Prime: Beast Saga
by Ardent Aspen
Summary: (A project with Brave Kid) When Jack, Miko, and Rafael find themselves in a parallel world without the Autobots, who can they look to for protection from the Predacons? (Previously written by Brave Kid, DuskMoon15, and DJ R3M1X, but I've been given permission to rewrite it in my own style)
1. Chapter 1

"_**And so it came to pass that as the stars aligned, charge of the Chronicles of the Saga of Beasts passed from the Brave Child to Aspen the Ardent, daughter of the War Wolf and Recorder of the Order of the Quill. May she strive to be worthy of the task." – From the annals of Brother Apollo, Scribe of Eden in the Autumn of the Sighing Spirit**_

**From Brave Kid to DuskMoon15 to DJ R3M1X this tale has passed to me, and I can only hope I do it justice. I shall start at the beginning of the story so that I can preserve a feeling of continuity in the style of writing. I'm not changing the plot at all, but I may tweak a few details here and there...**

* * *

Chapter 1

"_Prime!" _The bellow echoed about the base, instantly halting Miko's impromptu guitar solo. _Not again, _she thought. In her opinion, Fowler could stand to lighten up a fair bit. The aforementioned agent stormed to the railing, clearly upset about _something_. Miko hoped it wasn't the Autobots that his ire was directed at. "Agent Fowler," Optimus Prime calmly answered, "What seems to be the problem?" The human clenched his fists as he answered. "The 'Cons are storming a relay station in Kansas and my men are getting slaughtered!" So. Miko needn't have worried about something her friends had done after all. Bulkhead paused as he was about to lob a ball to Bumblebee. "Relay station? What's that?" he asked.

Without even looking up from his work, Ratchet answered, "It's a transmitter that repeats a signal to another station." He waved one hand inarticulately at Fowler. "If you want us to interfere, I need an exact location." "Coordinates, Ratchet," Fowler sighed, "I think you mean _coordinates_." "Up-bup-bup! I'm working!" the grumpy medic snapped. Miko snickered and went back to her music, scribbling notes down on the sheet music in front of her. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Ratchet calibrated the Ground Bridge. A familiar tingle of excitement rushed to her brain, and that little voice that she just _knew_ she was supposed to ignore, but listened to anyway, began to whisper of adventure and battle.

Miko smiled as a plan began to form in her mind. "Hey Bulk!" she shouted as her partner prepared for departure. "Yeah?" "Bash some helms in for me!" Bulkhead laughed and ruffled her pigtails with one servo. "That's my girl!" he said proudly. Ratchet glared suspiciously at the girl, remembering another occasion when she had pretended to stay and had ended up instigating a parallel-dimension incident. "You are not going along." It was certainly not a question. "Way to stereotype, Doc!" Miko snapped, "As it happens, I've got work to do!" She made a disdainful noise and pulled a worksheet from her backpack. _That seemed to satisfy him,_ she thought. _He's distracted, and the boys are bound to notice me working in 3...2...1..._

"Miko? Are you ok?" Jack leaned over from the couch. "You're...doing homework!" "You _never_ do homework!" Raf chipped in. Miko had begun her lie, there was no way she could extract herself now. She faked a concerned look and turned wide brown eyes on her friends. "My parents are going to pull me out of the program if I don't ace the finals!" she said. This had the desired effect on the boys. "Oh! Oh, man that's awful Miko!" Jack rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help, alright?" Miko smiled sweetly. "Thanks Jack, I will." It was time for phase 2 of the Miko-Goes-On-An-Adventure plan.

She tapped the pen against her chin for a moment then widened her eyes comically. "Hey...Docbot? Were there _supposed_ to be grenades in the Energon Storage Bay?" With a squawk of dismay, the medic fled the room, cursing all Wreckers to the Pit. He forgot to lock down the Ground Bridge control panels. Rubbing her hands together gleefully, the small Japanese teen hurried up the stairs to the panel and deftly reprogrammed the previous coordinates. For once, all of Ratchet's lecturing had come in handy. She pulled down the lever, starting the swirling vortex up in a whirr. "Miko, where did you see the grenades?" Ratchet's voice called faintly from across the base. "Near the back corner, I think!" she shouted back, "And the little blinking red light is _bad_, right?" The three children clearly heard Ratchet's panicked gasp as he redoubled his searching efforts.

"What are you doing?!" Jack hissed as he and Raf charged after their friend. "You said your parents were going to pull you out of the program!" Raf accused. "I lied!" Miko cackled, dashing through the strangely bluish white Bridge. In an instant, all three humans had vanished into the golden light at the end of the tunnel.

The first thing Miko noticed when she stepped out of the Ground Bridge was the heat. Red dust covered her boots, as well as most of the landscape, and the sun beat down on the trio. "Aw, man! We're still in Jasper!" she muttered. So much for the Miko-Goes-On-An-Adventure plan. "That's a _good_ thing, isn't it?" Raf asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. Jack shaded his eyes and looked around. "Well, I guess it depends on whether we're close enough to be bridged back to the base, or if we're going to have to walk home from here." He crossed his arms and leveled an irritated glare at Miko. "Alright, _alright_!" she grumbled, "I'll call Ratchet." As the boys watched, she paced back and forth holding her cell phone to her ear. "Hey, Doc?" she asked nervously, "We kinda, sorta...hello? Hello?" She jerked the phone away from her head irritably. "Scrap!" she hissed.

At Raf's questioning glance, she explained, "Nothin' but static. I think the Bridge fried my cell. Try yours!" Jack and Rafael met with similar results. Miko let out a long string of words in two languages. The Japanese was unfamiliar to Jack, but he certainly _did_ recognize a few of the Cybertronian words, and swiftly covered Raf's ears. The younger boy was amused. "Jack, Ratchet swears all the time. I'm used to it." he said flatly. Miko chuckled at Jack's scandalized expression and slipped her phone back into her pocket. "Well, I guess we'd better start walking!" she sighed. With no better solution in sight, the three friends set out in the direction of town.

* * *

They split up when they reached Jasper, none of them prepared for what awaited at their homes. When Jack slipped into the garage, he found his mother's car waiting. _Mom's already home?_ He thought, confused. "Mom? You home?" he called warily. June poked her head out the door leading from the house. "Yeah, honey. You're home early! I thought your shift didn't end for another hour?" She was still dressed in her lab coat, although her normally clean teal scrubs were looking somewhat the worse for wear. "Uh...I...clocked out early!" Jack stammered, caught off guard. In the kitchen, Jack found several cages huddled together with a pungent odor emanating from them. His suspicions regarding their contents were confirmed when he bent down to examine them. Rabbits.

As Jack and June rounded the corner, a flurry of barking greeted them as a large German Shepherd bounded up and nosed at them affectionately. "Down, Ray!" June laughed, patting the dog on the head. "Mom? Since when do we have pets?!" Jack was beyond confused by this point. His mother looked at him strangely. "What kind of vet doesn't have animals around?"

* * *

Raf fished around in his pocket for his house key, grumbling under his breath. The door was suddenly yanked open from the other side, sending him sprawling to the floor. The sister closest in age to him, Pilar, stared down at him, unimpressed. "You're late, hermanito," she reproved gently, "We were about to start dinner without you!" She ran around the corner, calling, "Mama, Papa, Rafael es el hogar!" Mr. Esquivel's voice rang out from the dining room. "Venir aquí. Tu hermanos estan dando hambre!" Raf sighed and pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Si, Papa," he answered, shuffling after his sister to the table. He glanced in surprise at the wholly organic meal. _What ever happened to pizza?_ He lamented silently.

* * *

Miko threw open the door and took the stairs at a run, hoping to avoid her host parents. _"__Mikoto Nakadai!" _a familiar voice cried out, "Since when are you allowed to run in the house?" Miko skidded to a halt and whirled around in shock. "Dad? You're...ah...home?" The older gentleman crossed his arms over his neatly pressed business suit and fixed a stern gaze on her. "You had better not be skipping a detention again, young lady!" he scolded. "What? I mean...um, no sir," Miko stammered, sitting down on the stairs. "I was hanging out with my friends, is all." A smile tugged at Hideo Nakadai's lips as he was joined by his wife, who was holding an enormously fat ginger cat. "Well, I'm glad you're spending time with other kids," he said. "Sweetheart, you _are_ working on bringing your grades up, aren't you?" her mother added, "After all, final exams are this week!"

"Yeah..." Miko got over her surprise and launched herself at her parents with a giggle. "I missed you guys!" she said, her voice muffled by her mother's blouse, "When did you come over from Japan?" Hideo caught Ayako's eye, who shrugged. "On second thought, perhaps you've been studying _too_ hard!" Miko's father teased, "We haven't lived in Japan since your older brother was born!" "Speaking of which, Shirako should be home soon," Miko's mother piped up, "Are we eating at home tonight, or ordering out?" The words fell unheeded by her daughter, who somehow managed to stumble up to her room and grab the house phone. She dialed Jack, desperately hoping he would pick up the phone.

"_Miko?"_ Well, that was a relief, at least. He still lived at the same address.

"Yeah," she sighed, "It's me. I think we've got a problem."

"_You're telling me!-Ray, stop it—Something's wrong here!" _Jack sounded a little out of breath.

"Wha? Who's Ray?" Miko asked. She snickered at her friend's response.

"_Ray is a dog. I have a dog now, dogs are cool. So what's new at your house?"_

Miko groaned and flopped back onto her bed, holding the phone to her ear. "My parents live here. Not the host parents, the real ones. Apparently we've lived here all our lives!" Jack sighed on the other end of the line. "_I'll call Raf. We should meet up somewhere and talk—Ray! Get down!" _Miko made a face. "Yeah, can we do the park tomorrow at 5? Should still be a Saturday, unless calendars don't work anymore. I gotta deal with my family right now." Through the phone, Jack sounded understanding. "_Yeah, and I've got to deal with this dog. Oh my gosh NO! Ray! Get that out of your mouth this instant!"_

Just as Miko was reaching for her sketchpad and pencils, the door slammed downstairs. "Hey Miko!" an unfamiliar voice shouted, "You ready for that spin in my sportscar I promised you?" Mentally, Miko cycled through the possibilities of who the speaker could be before deciding that it was probably her "brother", this Shirako character. "Uh, yeah! Just a sec!" she called, looking for her backpack. Then she remembered that she'd left it at the Autobot base. As she reached down to retrieve a fallen pencil, she noticed the very same backpack under her chair! That boded ill. "Siiiiis! C'maaaaaaan!" The voice sounded insistent. (**a/n: that is how most of my older brothers used to tell me it was time to go.) **"Coming!" Miko slid down the bannister to come face to face with what was apparently a younger clone of her father. Well, except for the part where Hideo Nakadai probably would never have spiked his hair or worn a white leather jacket with navy blue detailing.

Miko was somewhat lost for words. "Come on, kiddo," Shirako grinned and handed her a slim leather-bound volume. "Found those old pictures you were asking for. Now hurry up!" He led Miko outside to a sleek vehicle that matched his jacket. It was clearly meant for high speeds. "Sweet!" Miko gasped, admiring the car. "Hop in!" Shirako said proudly. Before long they had pulled out of the driveway and were cruising around the town. Miko idly flipped through the photo album, looking with interest at a photo of her grandparents standing in front of their house in Jasper, holding a young Shirako between them. "Hey...Shirako, why did Mom and Dad leave Tokyo?" she asked, tracing her grandmother's face with one finger.

"Again? You've asked me that question a million times!" her brother groaned. Miko fixed him with her best "kitten-stuck-in-the-rain" face until he relented. "Okay, okay! Turn it off, I'll talk!" Miko rolled her eyes as the older boy answered. "Grandma and Grandpa moved here after World War II. When I was born, Dad thought business would be better if he moved the company back to Japan." His sister looked at the photos and frowned. "This is you at what, three? I take it business in Japan wasn't as good as he thought it would be?" Shirako shook his head. "Nope. Too many companies in the same industry all in the same place. They stayed a year or two, then moved back here. And then you were born and I wasn't the baby anymore."

Miko closed the photo album and stared out the window, thoughts churning. There was only one explanation rising to the top of her mind. Only one reason that her world could have changed so drastically. The whole matter had seemingly begun when she had run through that stupid Ground Bridge, just like the Zombie-Skyquake fiasco! _Zombie-Skyquake? Of course! _The revelation hit Miko like a thunderbolt. _We're in another Shadowzone!_


	2. Chapter 2

"_**There came a cry from the city, because no one had seen Aspen the Ardent for many days. "She is dead!" they cried, "Or else she is hiding from the medic again!" But it was not so, for she had merely shut herself away in her cloister to study the Saga of the Beasts as passed on to her from the Brave Child and the scribes who came before. Thus she would attempt the second chapter, or die trying."-From the Annals of Brother Apollo, Scribe of Eden in the Autumn of the Sighing Spirit.**_

**Sorry, couldn't resist at least one more fake chronicle entry. As mentioned above, I am about to attempt the second chapter! (Drumroll please) Watch and be either amazed or horrified! I hope it's the former...(o_o)**

* * *

"Miko! Isoide! I have to go to work!" Shirako hollered from downstairs. Miko was _pretty_ sure her hotshot older "brother" did not, in fact, have a job. He did, however, have a really awesome car, and Miko suspected that some of the modifications made to the engine weren't exactly "street legal". Having snooped around Shirako's room the night before, Miko thought it was safe to assume that "work" was code for "racing." Then again, if she'd had a car like that, she'd probably be racing whenever she could. The older boy called up again, sounding impatient. "Yeah, yeah!" Miko shouted back, "Gimme a sec, okay? Can't find my cell phone!" It would be a cold day in the Sahara before she would admit to being lost in her own house. All the furniture that had once been so familiar now sat taunting her, because everything had been rearranged. Following the wall of photos took you to the bathrooms in her world. It took you to a storage closet here, which was rather unfortunate.

"Mikoooooo! Your phone is on the charger down here!" Shirako whined, "C'maaaaaan!" By some miracle (or maybe it was just Shirako's voice) Miko found the right corner and snatched the phone off the charger. It was about two-thirds of the way charged, but that was as good as it was going to get for now. She slipped into the front-passenger seat of Shirako's hot-rod and hoped that her brother wouldn't want to talk. The moment the young man opened his mouth yet again, Miko fully understood the old adage, "hope deferred makes the heart sick". Well, she thought perhaps she might substitute "heart" with "stomach". If she were to find out that she had been anywhere near as annoying as Shirako, she was fully prepared to beg forgiveness after having spent several hours with the elder Nakadai sibling.

On and on and _on_ he prattled about cars and racing and the pretty girl at the last race that he was just _sure_ liked him and oh-don't-you-have-a-test-soon-Miko, and oh-don't-worry-some-guy-will-ask-you-out-someday-M iko and Miko wanted to scream. "Why do you want to go to the park anyway?" Shirako complained. The girl rolled her eyes. "I'm meeting with my friends, Jack and Raf," she sighed. There, that was innocent enough. Surely he couldn't make such a simple thing awkward. "Ohhhhh! Little Sis is a dude magnet, huh? What, can't decide which one you like better?" Never mind. Shirako could make anything awkward. Miko gaped at him wordlessly for several moments, blushing furiously and lost for a response. Finally, she sputtered, "Dude! Raf is, like, _twelve_! Don't be creepy! And Jack's just a friend!" "Sure Little Sis," Shirako smirked, "Whateeeever you say." Miko huffed impatiently and crossed her arms. "I'm not _that_ much younger than you," she snapped, and prayed she was right.

Shirako appeared to consider this for a moment before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess two years isn't that much of a difference," he relented. At last, the car pulled up to the local park. _Finally!_ Miko thought, unbuckling. "Hey, I can pick you up when you're done, if you need it?" Shirako offered. "NO! ...I mean, no, you don't have to do that. You've got _work_, remember?" Miko smiled sweetly, then all but launched herself out of the vehicle, slamming the door behind her. Jack was waiting at the bike trail with an amused expression. Miko ignored it. "Where's Raf?" the boy asked. Miko shrugged, "I dunno. Hope he gets here soon though, I think I know what's going on around here." The sound of sneakers slapping the pavement heralded the arrival of a huffing, puffing Rafael. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late," he gasped, "Pilar and Juan wanted to come along. I pretty much had to pry them off with a crowbar." Miko patted him on the head in understanding. "Well at least I'm not the only one who got an annoying sibling." Raf shook his head. "No, they're always like that."

He pulled his ever-present laptop from his backpack. "On to business then?" he asked. When neither teen opposed him, he continued. "I did a little research last night, and I found out that Agent Fowler is in the Army Rangers, and he's stationed overseas right now. There haven't been _any_ reports of unknown vehicles or driverless cars in Jasper. No sign of the Autobots anywhere." He looked up when Miko cleared her throat urgently. "I think I know why, guys. Remember when the Groundbridges crossed the streams and we got stuck with ZombieSkyquake?" Jack narrowed his eyes. "Miko, why would we _forget_ running for our lives from a psychotic undead Decepticon?!" "Not my point. I think that we're in another one of those Shadowzone things!" Miko's guess started Rafael thinking. "You mean like, a parallel dimension?" he asked. Miko nodded. "Yeah, that would explain why I was born here...and why I have a _supremely_ annoying older brother." "And why my mom is a vet," Jack added.

Miko's eyes lit up. "You're mom's a vet?! Green Beret or Special Forces?" She was somewhat disappointed when her friend explained that June was a _veterinarian_, not a _veteran. _Raf stiffened suddenly as a thought hit him. "The 'Bots were defending a relay station! Maybe an array was damaged and interfered with the Ground Bridge, creating some kind of spatial/temporal abnormality and warping us directly into a parallel dimension!" Jack and Miko exchanged glances. "Raf, I have _no_ idea what you just said, but you've never steered us wrong before," Jack said with a slight grin. Having come to that decision, he took charge of the situation. "Okay, if that's how we got here, we need to focus on how to get back. If we _can_ get back. We might be stuck here for a while." It was hardly an ideal situation. "How are we going to fit in without everyone noticing that something's off about us?" Raf worried. "We'll figure it out along the way," Jack answered evenly, "For now, we stick to Priority One: Keep a low profile." He laughed suddenly. "You could pretend it was Autobot training, if you wanted!"

Miko laughed as well. "We _are_ Autobots, Jack! Just...small ones." She sobered for a moment. "I checked the calendar, and we've got about two weeks left of school. After that's over with, we can completely on finding our way home." "For now, Miko," Jack sighed, "_This_ ishome."

* * *

"Jack, do you have to go to work today?" June yelled from the kitchen, where she was feeding the rabbits. The young man had been in the middle of a typhoon of study guides and worksheets preparing for his next exam when the question came. "No, why?"

"I want you to come with me on a house call," June replied. Jack tried not to sigh aloud. "Where to?" he asked. His mother laughed. "Tim asked me to check up on his horses. You remember Mr. Whitefeather, don't you? He _did_ used to tell you stories when you were a little boy." In the kitchen, June leaned back against the counter with a twinkle in her eye as she remembered her son sitting for hours, engrossed in the tales the Paiute man told. In the living room, Jack made a face. He wasn't about to admit that he had absolutely no recollection of any "Mr. Whitefeather", and the idea of someone telling him stories seemed a little unbelievable.

"_Mom_! I'm not a kid anymore!" Jack settled for what he imagined was a believable response. June poked her head around the corner. "I was being nice, Jack. You're coming anyway. Come on! Mr. Whitefeather specifically asked if you were coming, so get in the car!" Jack ran his fingers through his messy black hair and let out a breath. Leaving his homework for the time being, he shuffled after his mother, muttering, "Where does he live again?" June started the engine and they backed out of the driveway. As it turned out, Tim Whitefeather lived out on the same path that led to Outpost Omega! Jack had memorized the path from the many times he'd driven over it with Arcee, or even Bulkhead or Bumblebee. Left with no convenient escapes, Jack made a solemn vow to himself that he would never take Arcee for granted again. "Honey, you seem distracted. Is everything alright?" June asked softly. She wondered if perhaps pulling him away from studying for the finals had been a bad idea.

Jack managed a weary smile. "I'm alright, Mom. Just a little tired, that's all." June frowned. "Are you sure? You know you can tell me anything, right?" Jack nodded. _I'm not so sure "anything" includes, "Hey Mom, I'm not really your son, I'm from a parallel world where I help fight giant evil robots". Yeah, that'll go over well._ His thoughts were interrupted by their arrival at the Whitefeather ranch. A broad-shouldered man with his long, graying hair pulled back was waiting for them. Dark, lively eyes danced in a weather-beaten face and Jack guessed that he must be Mr. Whitefeather. "You certainly got here quickly, Mrs. Darby! Ah, and you brought Jack as well1" the man's booming voice washed over the pair as Jack helped his mother remove her equipment from the car, and he couldn't help but wish that maybe he _had_ heard some stories from this man.

June chuckled. "Tim, how many times must I ask you to call me June?" Tim's smile stretched to match hers. "At least once more, Mrs. Darby, as always." Jack shuffled awkwardly and wished he could disappear. At least it couldn't possibly be worse than the one time when his mom had made that comment about Optimus..._No brain! Stop! No more nightmares please and thank you!_ He shook his head to clear it and followed his mother and the rancher to the stables. Mr. Whitefeather motioned to the stalls, which held four horses, a cow and calf, and one sick buffalo. "Here they are, Mrs. Darby—ah, I mean June." The black bay mare shook her mane irritably and pawed the ground. "Easy now," Tim scolded gently, "Don't get snippy with her, that's your doctor! She's just going to look you over, okay girl?" Jack had never seen a horse make a suspicious face before, but he was fairly certain that if it was even possible, it would resemble the look the mare was sending his mother.

"Now then, Jack, why don't we leave these two ladies to their business?" Tim winked and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I've got something to show you, if you don't mind." Jack sighed, but dutifully followed the older man to the wooden porch. The man took a large brown and white feather from the porch railing and handed it to Jack. "There, proof," he said, as if no explanation was needed. "It's...a hawk feather? There are lots of these around here," Jack said, confused. The Paiute man raised his eyes to the heavens and sighed. "He's forgotten everything I taught him!" he playfully complained to some unseen witness. "You of all people should know a falcon feather when you see it, son!" he gently corrected the boy, "See how narrow it is, compared to the length? And you _know_ there are no falcons this size or color in these parts. It's proof that the legends are true!" Jack held the feather up and inspected it. It was beautiful, surely, and very _very_ large, but that's not what stuck in his mind. "Legends?" he repeated, hoping that Mr. Whitefeather wasn't crazy. He seemed pretty nice, after all.

"The Spirits!" Tim whispered, "This feather came from the Great Falcon! He guards the skies while the White Lion watches over the land!" This seemed like proof to Jack that the kindly rancher had perhaps been out in the sun too long. "There aren't any lions in America, Mr. Whitefeather," he argued, trying to sound persuasive. Tim sat down across from him and looked at him sadly. "You really have forgotten, haven't you?" he asked. Jack looked away, unable to face the disappointment in the naturally friendly eyes. "Don't you remember everything I taught you? How the Spirits came when a star fell from the heavens, long ago? When the star split on impact, the Spirits were released, and took the forms of natural animals, but much _much_ bigger. You used to believe that story, Jack. Wasn't until last time you were here you asked for proof, and there it is:" he pointed to the feather again. "The Spirits respect all life, son. When it is threatened, they will appear. I don't know what made them come back now, but something is going on out here and I wanted you to know about it."

Jack felt guilty for disappointing Mr. Whitefeather, but the story just seemed too incredible to be taken without a grain of salt. Still, it couldn't hurt to take Miko and Raf out to the mesas later, just to be sure.

* * *

Surprisingly, Miko was the last to arrive. Then again, she _had _walked the entire way. "Why didn't you just ask your big brother for a lift?" Raf asked innocently. "Because I would rather buff Knockout's finish than sit in the car with Shirako. I would rather face a legion of _spiders_ than sit in the car with Shirako. I would rather be _confined_ to the _base_ for _twenty years_ with _Ratchet_ than spend one _minute_ stuck in the car with Shirako!" Miko looked deadly serious. Jack rolled his eyes. "That bad, huh?" Miko gave him the Death Face, and he thought better of teasing her. "Let's go," he sighed, and the three children set off into the pitch black of a desert night. The stars didn't provide near as much light as they had thought they would, but their path was mostly clear of obstacles. The distant yelps of a rout of coyotes sent Raf huddling closer to the older two. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea at night," he gulped.

There was no argument forthcoming from Miko and Jack, especially as the sounds of the feral canines began to get louder and closer. Suddenly, they grew distant again with a series of frantic yips. Trembling, Raf grabbed hold of Jack and Miko's hands. They squeezed back, equally nervous. A dark cat-like shape against the sky caught Miko's attention, and she silently nudged the boys to alert them. Subtly, Jack positioned himself in front of his friends protectively. His eyes widened as the shape softly padded towards them. "No way!" he breathed. The moon slipped from behind a cloud, illuminating the massive form of a white lion with a golden mane. Its fearsome yellow eyes mellowed into something more familiar for a moment, and the trio nearly fainted with shock when it opened its mouth.

"You have wandered far from your realm, little humans," the rumbling voice said, surprisingly gently, "You are all very lucky that Galvatron did not find you before we did."


	3. Chapter 3

**After some fights with my computer over hard-drive space, (We had a professional disagreement over how much space was needed. I thought "plenty", and my computer thought "none"), I have finally gotten my Decepticon-sympathizer of a laptop back into proper working order. Hip Hoorah! Now I can continue with the Beast Saga! The story so far: The kids have been tossed into a parallel-dimension where there are apparently no Autobots. They've just figured it out and come face to face (fangs?) with the White Lion of Mr. Whitefeather's stories. This is where the previous authors introduced the Maximals, so without further ado, let's Roll Out!**

* * *

Previously:

_"__You have wandered far from your realm, little humans," the rumbling voice said, surprisingly gentle, "You are all very lucky that Galvatron did not find you before we did."_

Raf found his voice first, though he still clung to Jack and Miko. "W-who are you?" The great cat tilted its head slightly. "I am Lio Convoy," he said calmly. The humans glanced at each other, then back to the lion. "Okay, well then, who's Galvatron?" Miko asked. The golden eyes hardened for a moment into something wild as Lio answered. "Galvatron is the leader of the Predacons. If he had come across you, alone and unprotected, he would not have hesitated to terminate you." Jack grimaced and leaned over to whisper to his friends, "Sounds like Megatron." All three jumped and held a bit tighter to each other when the lion snarled at Jack's words. "How do you know of the ancient Decepticons?" he demanded.

"Ancient?!" Raf squeaked, "But Optimus and the others went to go and fight him only three days ago!" The enormous lion rose to his full height, shocked. "How is that possible? The Autobots are the ancestors of the Maximals!" Trembling, the elder human boy motioned for silence among his companions. "So, you're saying that the Autobots are d-" he couldn't bring himself to say the word. "Are gone?" he finished, "A-and the Decepticons too?" Seeing that he had frightened the young humans, Lio Convoy crouched slightly, gentle once more. "I'm afraid so. You should return to the base with me," he suggested, turning his head to the west, "Perhaps Apache will know what happened to the three of you." Miko elbowed Jack and looked up at the Convoy with interest. "So, you _can_ transform?" she asked, less apprehensively than before. Lio nodded, and a smile was evident in his voice, if not on his face. "Of course I can transform! Now, however, is _not_ the appropriate time to show you. Come, Airazor and I will escort you to the base."

The shadowy figure of a falcon swooped down, seemingly out of nowhere, and landed next to the lion. This might not have been such an unusual occurrence if the the falcon in question hadn't been about as tall as a horse. Jack yelped and stumbled back, clearly caught off guard. "I can't believe it!" he laughed under his breath, "The old man was right!" Miko and Raf shot him confused looks. He hadn't mentioned any "old man" earlier. The falcon bobbed its head from side to side, examining the humans with one bright eye at a time. "_This_ is what you called me here for?" Airazor sounded unimpressed. Lio Convoy moved to stand behind the children. "Yes, there has apparently been a...well, an incident, for lack of better information. These humans are not from this realm." Airazor bent down and nudged at Miko with her beak. "And that concerns me because...?" She sounded more playful than aggressive, but that's small comfort when a bird of prey that's taller than you are starts poking you with a razor sharp beak.

"_Airazor_." The lion sounded slightly annoyed. Airazor fluffed her feathers and shook them all flat again. "I'm _kidding_," she snorted. "We'd better get moving, I suppose. Humans shouldn't be out here alone, especially after nightfall." One set of talons wrapped around Raf's waist, hoisting the little boy with minimal effort. The other set reached for Miko, who dodged with a dismayed noise. The bird shrugged. "Fine, I'm not picky." So it was Jack, rather than Miko, who had the dubious honor of being carried by a flying Maximal. Miko's efforts, however, landed her in an equally undignified position. Being in Beast Mode, Lio Convoy had no hands, and the distance was such that he wasn't sure the humans could walk the whole way to the base. Lio began to feel slightly uneasy with the situation altogether, and decided that the sooner they reached their home the better. He bent down and carefully seized the back of Miko's jacket between his teeth. When he began moving, it became clear to the girl that he was _not_ going to let her walk. She ceased struggling after a few minutes and settled for crossing her arms and pouting. Now she knew how kittens felt when picked up by the scruff of the neck!

* * *

As it turned out, the plume that Mr. Whitefeather had found did indeed belong to Airazor. She hadn't even noticed that it had fallen. Jack tried to adjust his position in the huge falcon's talons, and decided that this was most certainly _not _his preferred mode of travel. He no longer had any trouble whatsoever believing that he was in some kind of alternate dimension. There was simply no other explanation for beings that claimed to be descendants of the Autobots and Decepticons. He looked back up at Airazor, who was attempting to satisfy Rafael's curiosity as to how the Maximals had come to Earth. "Oh, we didn't _mean_ to crash land here. We were sent to hunt down Galvatron and his crew of marauders," she shrugged, an impressive feat, given that she was flying at the time. Raf propped his chin on his hands and leaned back in Airazor's grip. "Why?" he chirped, bright-eyed with curiosity. "Well, because the Predacons broke him out of prison and they were looking for new worlds to conquer." "Why was he in prison?" Airazor twitched, beginning to be exasperated. "He was in prison for crimes against multiple planets. He's a _Predacon _for Prime's sakes! Come on, what are you, a Sparkling?" Raf considered this for a moment. "...yes?"

At that moment, Airazor and Lio Convoy reached the hidden base at the foot of the mesas, and the humans were set down to walk the rest of the way. The first word that came to Rafael's mind was _Neverland_. With the plants twisting and growing around nearly every available surface, and the trees shooting up from the center of the old missile silo, the youngest Esquivel thought it looked like the Nevertree that the Lost Boys lived in. Even with the presence of more greenery than he'd ever seen in the Jasper desert, Raf was impresed more by the amount of technology in the base. Some of it looked more advanced than what Ratchet had at home! "It's beautiful!" the little boy exclaimed, and his companions weren't sure if he meant the plants or the computers. Not everyone was as thrilled as Rafael. "Hey! Ya mind tellin' me what a bunch of squishies are doin' in the base, Fearless Leader?!" a short gold mech with a patch of gray fur on his chestplate crossed his arms and glared down at the humans, mild hostility evident in his red optics.

Lio Convoy shut his optics and let the irritation fade before speaking. "Children, this is Rattrap. He's our demolitions expert." Judging by the way the human female's optics lit up at the word "demolitions", and judging by the way the two males slowly side-stepped away from her, Lio guessed that the words meant something to them. Miko had been missing Bulkhead terribly during the three days apart from him, and found herself thinking, _Well, if he's in demolitions, he can't be all bad!_ "Demo guy, huh?" Miko marched up to Rattrap and smiled. "Ever heard of the Wreckers? My partner, Bulkhead is one of them." The Maximals noted with amusement and some slight surprise that the girl's oddly-colored hair seemed to move with her moods, suddenly bouncing up as she thought of another question. "Ooh! What do you think about energon and the incendiary qualities of potassium?" Raf almost tripped over his own feet. "Miko?! How do you even know what that means?!" Jack smirked and shook his head. "Raf, potassium _explodes_. Of _course_ Miko knows about it."

Looking uncomfortable, Rattrap pushed Miko over to Convoy. "Here, you can have this back," he muttered, "Watch it, kid's got a mouth!" Airazor transformed and walked to one of the consoles where a Maximal they hadn't met yet was working. "Apache?" The brown and white mech didn't respond, so the femme tapped his shoulder, calling louder. "Apache!" Finally, Apache looked up. "Eh? Oh, it's you, Airazor. What's the matter? Have you been damaged?" "No," the femme rolled her optics playfully and gestured towards the humans standing with Lio Convoy. "There seems to have been an incident." Looking interested, the medic walked over and stared contemplatively at the three children. "Yes, yes I daresay there has been!" he mused. He bent down to get a closer look at Raf, Miko, and Jack. "Might I inquire as to the nature of the accident?"

Jack was about to glare at Miko and blame her for the whole predicament, but a small voice within him whispered that no one had forced him to chase her through the Bridge: that had been his own choice. He followed Miko's lead and looked to Raf, hoping the intelligent boy would be able to explain the situation better than they. The younger boy adjusted his glasses and frowned. "Well, the Autobots went to defend a relay station from the Decepticons-" As before in the desert, there was a marked reaction to the words "Autobot" and "Decepticon". Apache impatiently motioned for quiet so that Rafael could continue. "After they left, Miko decided to use the Ground Bridge to follow them. There must've been some kind of malfunction in the wiring system, or the relay dishes could have interfered, because we ended up in the middle of the desert and had to walk home." He made a face, showing exactly what he thought of having to hike through the hot desert.

Jack took up the tale where Raf left off. "When we each got home, we found out that everything was different. My mom's job, Miko's whole family, _everything_. Eventually, Miko figured out that we were in some kind of parallel world." Embarrassed enough at having been the cause of the fiasco, Miko kept her mouth shut. "Fascinating!" Apache pulled out a scanner. "You could be on to something there, little fellow!" The mandrill transformer adjusted the scanner and fiddled with the display. "Groundbridges can be finicky at times. Add interference from a powerful relay signal and you've got the potential to end up somewhere other than your intended destination." He waved the monitor over the three and squinted at it. "Well, you _do _have traces of Groundbridge radiation on you, so-" He was abruptly interrupted by Miko's shriek. "Radiation?!" she sounded vaguely panicked. "Calm down, calm down," Apache chuckled, "It's not lethal."

Just then, three other Maximals entered the room. A young, gray and gold mech hunched over to get a better look at their unusual guests, taking care not to poke anyone with the white blade-like protrusions on his forearms. "Look at _that_!" he cried, "I've never seen those little glass things on a human before!" Raf giggled a little. "Those are my glasses! They help me see better." The newcomer nodded sagely. "Oh! Like a visor, I get it." A black and blue mech peered over the first's shoulder at the humans with interest, and the third stood off to the side almost shyly. The first mech beamed at Raf. "I'm Stampy!" he crowed, "This guy is Break, and the white and red mech over there is Polar Claw!" Lio Convoy cleared his throat meaningfully. Stampy seemed to shrink slightly. "Ohhh...you're in the middle of something, aren't you? My bad." He backed off to allow Apache to continue his conjecture on how their visitors had arrived. When he had exhausted every possible theory, Stampy hopped back in, eager to introduce everyone.

Stampy and Break, (a rabbit and penguin, respectively. Jack nearly had to have the Heimlich performed after stifling his laughter and choking on it) were fairly new recruits, and as young and eager as Bumblebee. Raf was pleased to learn that they too had a fondness for human video games, and was soon whisked away to view the young Maximals' rather impressive collection of racing games. The third newcomer, Polar Claw, had watched silently for a while before crouching next to Miko. He poked her pigtails with one blunt servo. "Your hair...it is..._neobychnyy. _It is—how you say—unusual, da?" He offered the girl a sharp-toothed smile that she couldn't help but return. "I'm Miko," she held out her hand. The polar bear-mech stared in confusion at the appendage. "You're supposed to shake it," she whispered. "...why?" The Japanese teenager frowned and furrowed her brow. "I...have no idea." She found the gentle giant to be very like her own partner, sharpening the ache in her heart all the more.

Jack leaned against the bole of a tree and faced Airazor. "So..." he began awkwardly, "I've never met a flying Autobot—sorry, Maximal—before. Are you the only one?" Airazor ran her servos through the feathers on her shoulders and lifted her chin proudly. "I'm the only one on _this_ planet, anyway!" There was a fierce glint in her optics that warned doom and despair for anyone who ever got on her bad side. It was a look Jack was familiar with, having seen it many times in Arcee's optics. His thoughts drifted to his partner, wondering if she was worried about him, what she would tell his mother... He hadn't even realized that the falcon was talking to him until she picked him up and held him to eye-level. "Sorry, what?" The femme was more amused than annoyed. "I _said_, 'I'm Airazor, I didn't get your designation'." Jack flushed scarlet, making Airazor laugh. "Er...I'm Jack," he mumbled. Airazor set the boy down on a wide tree branch to more comfortably converse with him.

"You said you lived with Autobots," she pressed, "What was Optimus Prime like? We learned about him as younglings, but history books are no substitute for someone who actually knew him!" Jack let out a breath and leaned back. "Man, how do you even _begin_ to describe Optimus Prime?" he found himself wondering. "Well, he's...I don't know. You meet him and you just feel _safe_. You always know that no matter what happens, he'll do whatever it takes to protect those who can't protect themselves. He doesn't like to fight, but if you force his hand, you're probably not coming back in one piece." A smile tugged at his lips as he remembered an incident where a rash young man and a rash young mech decided to sneak out and participate in an illegal street race. "And he's not someone you want to disappoint. That's kind of the worst feeling in the world."

Airazor shifted into Beast Mode and settled on the branch next to Jack, preening her feathers. "He sounds a little like Lio," she remarked, "Except for the whole "safe" thing." Jack looked up at her in surprise. "Lio Convoy isn't safe?" he asked, slightly confused. "'Course he isn't safe!" the falcon clacked her beak decisively, "But he's good. Maybe one day, he'll even be as good as your Optimus." This time, Jack _did_ smile.

* * *

"It appears that the three of you will be stuck here for a while," Lio Convoy said. He had called the Maximals back from the various parts of the base they had spirited their new friends away to, and gathered them in front of one of the monitors. "As you have already learned of our existence, it stands to reason that you should learn about the Predacons as well." His optics caught Apache's and the medic nodded. There was no sense in being unprepared. The addition of human allies to their little "family" might provide their enemies with a point of attack, and Lio had no intention of letting the children leave until they had an idea of what kind of things lived in their world. He opened a file and pulled up a scan of a truly titanic warrior. Black was his armor, and scarlet his optics. Lines of royal violet, like the sky during a storm, highlighted the harsh figure. His bearing was cruel, and in his hand he wielded a magna blade that was easily as tall as Rattrap.

This was Galvatron, Emperor of Chaos. To cross him was to court disaster; to look upon him: despair; to defy him: death.

Jack's eyes widened. He had come face to face with Megatron himself twice and lived to tell the tale, and yet merely looking at a _picture_ of Galvatron was enough to terrify. Miko's face was as white as a sheet, and Raf shut his eyes and held on to Stampy's shoulder, where he sat. "This is Galvatron, leader of the Predacons," Apache explained grimly, "Outlaw, tyrant, warlord and murderer. Still, he shows an unusual regard for all those under his command. Well," the mandrill relented, "_almost_ all." The next scan came up and suddenly the children's fear was gone. "This," Apache began, "is—" "Starscream," the three chimed together, "We know." The Maximals once more found themselves perplexed by the newest additions to their group. "How did you know that was Starscream?" Break asked, startled. Raf began to snicker, and the older two were hard pressed to subdue their own laughter. "The heels! Oh, Primus! The _heels_!" Miko gasped, pointing at the picture.

It was certainly Starscream. The only difference between the one they knew so well and the Predacon was the beak-like protrusion from the treacherous mech's faceplate, and the fact that he was covered from helm to pede in black feathers. Jack wiped moisture from his eyes and tried to restrain himself. "I can _never_ unsee this," he declared. Raf nodded. "Once you've seen him in feathers, it kinda makes it hard to take him seriously, doesn't it?" "Wait, since when did we _ever_ take him seriously?" Miko retorted. "Right...well, moving on," the bemused Lio Convoy muttered, pulling up the next scan, "This is Soundwave and Laserbeak. They use sound to stun and confuse their chosen victims." The bat-like mech may have been shaped like the Soundwave from their universe, but Raf thought something sounded off about it. His suspicions were confirmed when Break whispered to him, "He's kind of a loudmouth." Raf tapped his chin in thought. "Our Soundwave doesn't talk at all. We're not sure if he even can, actually."

After the main Predacons had been introduced, Apache insisted on cycling through a plethora of other enemies: Bonecrusher, sometimes a mech and sometimes a croc, and certainly more brawn than brains; Waspinator and Buzz Saw the hornets- "We call 'em Dumb and Dumber!" Stampy had cheerfully interrupted. Apache had glared him into silence before moving on to the Predacons Miko called "the generics". "Pay attention!" the mandrill snapped, "This could save your tiny life, or the life of some other human! Jaguars are Battle Ravage-type, Hawks are Divebomb-type, Dinosaurs are Cruellock-type. If you see an Insecticon, I'm sorry but you're probably going to die." He didn't sound particularly sympathetic, but neither were Jack and Miko very worried. "Dude, Jack and I have eached snuffed an Insecticon a piece," the girl said dryly, "I think we can handle this."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! Thank you to everyone stopping to read this story! I've been corresponding with the creator of Prime: Beast Saga. After this and the next chapter, I think things are going to start getting crazy! Also, I think Galvatron ****_miiiight _****be scarier than Smaug. Just saying.**

**Just a heads up, this is where I diverge from the original version of the chapter ever-so-slightly. Because I have been writing Miko as more thrill-seeker than irresponsible prankster, the pranking scene originally in the opening of the chapter would seem a little out-of-character, sadly. (Brave Kid gave me permission to make Miko more responsible, so I'm not just changing things at random)**

* * *

"Time. Class, please put down your pencils and turn your tests over," the teacher droned. Jack sighed with relief. It was Wednesday, and the second of his final exams was finished. _One more on Friday, then two next week_, he thought, _Then we can focus on getting back to our universe. I hope no other-dimension versions of me show up._ He hid a smile at the seeming absurdity of being more worried about parallels and paradoxes than exams. Jack stood up, stretched, and handed his paper in before shouldering his backpack and slipping into the hallway. He leaned against the cool stone wall waiting for Raf and Miko. Rafael trundled out of his own classroom moments later, looking slightly bored. The test had hardly been a challenge to the young computer whiz. The two quietly talked for a few minutes, waiting for Miko.

"I almost called 'Bee today," Raf whispered. "I even picked up the phone and pulled up his frequency. It didn't really hit me until then that he's not going to answer." Jack's heart went out to the younger boy. "I know what you mean," he said sympathetically. For the past several mornings, his own garage had felt foreign and cold to him without the presence of a certain cerulean motorcycle. "It's been four days, Raf. At least we get to interact with the Maximals: that's better than working through this on our own." Rafael smiled weakly. Just then, the bell rang and the other students left their tests. Miko jauntily strode out into the hall with a smug smile. "I take it you did well?" Jack asked. Pink and black pigtails bounced as she nodded an affirmative. "The teacher said she'd been worried about me since I've seemed "out-of-it" lately, but that she was impressed with my work!" She was proud of herself, and the boys could see no reason why she shouldn't be. "Two more classes, guys," she threw an arm around each boy's shoulder. "Then we hit the desert..._after_ I call my mom to tell her that I didn't flunk."

* * *

One disadvantage to this world was the distance: without partners in vehicle modes to drive them to Outpost Omega, the children had to walk, or else find someone who would take them there with no questions asked. Shirako Nakadai was not on their list of designated drivers by any stretch of the imagination. Jack had one class with him, where he would _not_ stop talking...even when the teacher was lecturing. Shirako had also been unsuccessfully flirting with Rafael's eldest sister, Alicia, giving him an instant bad mark in the younger Esquivel's books. Having figured out which student was Jack, Shirako had cornered him at lunch and challenged him to a race to "make sure you're good enough for my little sister". With Miko apparently contemplating fratricide, Jack had never been so relieved have no wheels: he had a way to decline without embarrassing either himself or Shirako—if only for the sake of the nuisance's sister.

School ended at long last, and the trio made for the Nakadai house. In the brief time spent in this dimension, they had discovered that Mrs. Nakadai had the best after-school snacks. Jack was glad that his work schedule hadn't changed in this world. His shift was still Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, with Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays off, giving him time to plan with the other two. Over slices of watermelon, he discussed a plan of action with his friends. "With the advanced technology at Omega, I think we have a better chance of getting home sooner. Apache seems to know what he's doing, so barring any Predacon involvement, I think we'll be alright." Miko flicked a watermelon seed at Jack and grinned. "Now you have to say it, Jack." The boy raised an eyebrow. "Say what?" The girl leaned back against the kitchen wall and crossed her arms. "The thing about Priority One!" "Well why do _I_ have to say it?" Miko leaned forward again, her eyes mischievous, "Because you use Optimus's voice when you say it." "What? No I don't!" Jack protested. He looked to Raf for assistance, but none was forthcoming. "She's right, you use the same vocal inflections," the younger boy chuckled.

"Please Jack?" Miko blinked her eyes ridiculously at him. "It's like a little piece of home!" Raf agreed, making the situation all the more absurd by copying Miko's expression. Groaning, Jack put his hands over his reddening face. "Fine. Just...fine." He sighed and repeated the same rule he'd given them the day they'd discovered that they were in an alternate dimension. "Above all, we stick to Priority One: keep a low profile. There, you happy now?"

"Jack?"

"Yes, Miko?"

"There's a watermelon seed stuck to your forehead."

* * *

Halfway out into the desert, the trio was met by Polar Claw and Airazor. "Little Girl!" the bear exclaimed happily, "It is good to be seeing you again!" (**author's note: picture Jumba's voice from Lilo and Stitch.**) Miko laughed as she was scooped up and deposited onto the Maximal's back. "It's _Miko_, 'Claw." The bear nodded sheepishly. "I vas forgetting." Jack boosted Raf up, and Miko caught the younger boy's hands, swinging him up behind her. Beside them, Airazor arched her neck and blinked one fierce eye at Miko. "Did you, by any chance, introduce Break to something called "Slash Monkey" yesterday?" The tone was not encouraging. Miko froze. "Why?" The falcon snorted. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough. I'd avoid Apache though, he's pretty ticked." Before Jack could climb up onto Polar Claw's back with the others, Airazor snatched him up in her talons again. "There has got to be a better way to do this," he grumbled.

Raf clung to the thick white fur beneath him as the huge bear loped along the path. "Miko, did you instigate something?" he asked quietly. "I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate me," she replied, but her eyes were alight with mischief.

* * *

When the small band arrived at the base, Jack thought he'd prepared himself for whatever mayhem awaited. He'd underestimated Break. Slash Monkey blared over the intercom at a volume that made even Miko wince a little, and Apache was furious. He was pacing, shouting about some important piece of the Ground Bridge that had been "ruined by a Pernicious Penguin and a Holy-terror of a Hare". Said hare dashed by, stopping only to grab Raf from Polar Claw. "Run for your lives! He's got a wrench!" the youngling howled. Polar Claw snickered when Miko steepled her fingers and feigned a malevolent voice. "It seems I have created monsters. _Excellent_!" Airazor dropped her faceplate into her palm. "Stay here, I'll be right back." Cautiously, the brown and bronze femme sidled up to Apache. "Easy, Apache. This can be fixed, can't it?" She quickly stepped back a few paces when the mandrill whirled around and fixed her with the Crazy Optics. "It shouldn't have had to be fixed at all!" he shrieked, "Oh, when I get my servos on those two..."

Lio Convoy interrupted the tirade by his arrival, firmly escorting the younglings in question by the sides of their helms. (**a/n: he dragged them in by the ears.**) "Stampy and Break," he sighed, "I might have known. Give our new friend back, so we can turn off this...what did you call it? Rock-and-roll?" Shoulders hunched, Stampy handed Raf to Apache, who immediately enlisted the small human in turning off the music. Stampy's optics darted back and forth in panic before he pointed at his companion and squealed, "Break made me do it!" "_Me?!_" the irate penguin protested, but he was cut off by a stern scolding from Lio Convoy concerning proper Maximal behavior. Victimizing the mech who treated your injuries wasn't just unkind, it was probably dangerous. Once Rafael silenced the Bulgarian shriek metal, it became evident that an alarm was blaring on the monitors...and had been for some time. "Predacon attack!" Lio growled, scanning the information quickly, "They targeted a power plant north of Jasper." He cast a meaningful look at Stampy and Break (and Miko, by proxy, for having introduced them to the music). "That was ten minutes ago."

Miko didn't seem to catch his meaning. She heard "Predacon attack", and immediately began planning for another Miko-goes-on-an-adventure scheme. She leaned up to whisper into Polar Claw's ear, which did not go unnoticed by Jack. The white bear scratched his helm. "Eh, I am not so sure that is good idea, Miko," he warned. The girl gave him a pleading look, quickly winning him over. "Oh, alright. But do not be saying I did not varn you!" He tucked Miko closer to his helm and turned towards the Bridge, muttering, "I vill be regretting this, I think."

* * *

The black-haired boy held tightly to the feathers on Airazor's back. "Are you sure about this?" he asked warily. The femme swiveled her head to catch his eye. "Don't worry! If you fall off, I'll catch you before you hit the ground!" "Not exactly confidence-inspiring!" Jack muttered under his breath. Further commentary was cut off when the mighty raptor launched herself into the air. Jack very nearly let go from sheer panic as the wind tore a yell from his lips. The falcon's primary feathers caught the wind smoothly and one wing dipped, turning them. "You still in one piece back there?" she asked teasingly, "That sounded a little sparkling-like!" The boy yelled again, but this time in exhilaration. Never again would he be able to describe riding on Arcee as flying, not when he could literally reach out and pass his hand through a low cloud.

Airazor's wings seemed to shape the air around them, carving it into little whirls and eddies like a stream as she soared over the landscape. "We're right about over the attack zone now, Jack. Could you _please_ be a little quieter?" she hissed. Jack flushed. "Right, sorry." The Maximal opened her talons in battle-readiness. "Remember, the only reason I let you tag along is to keep your friend out of trouble!" she warned. "Got it," Jack agreed. As they landed, he could see the black, jaguar-like figures of the Battle Ravage-type Predacon scattered about the gray power plant. A waiting Stampy lifted the human off of Airazor's back and pointed up to a tall structure. "Miko's up there, taking pictures," he explained, "You two should be out of the fighting up there." Jack waved a quick thank-you and hurried to the ladder to join his friend.

* * *

Starscream's day had gone from bad to worse. The incompetent drones he had been set over (_clearly_ an insult: he should have been leading the elite!) were far slower than he was accustomed to. With the arrival of the Maximals, the collection of energy dropped to a near-standstill. "Can't you move any faster?!" Starscream screeched at one of his subordinates. The sudden blaster-bolt that felled the drone was answer enough. With a snarl, the feathered Predacon charged at Lio Convoy, slashing his talons across his faceplate. The lion grunted in pain and swiftly retaliated with a vicious blow to the raptor's midsection. Soon they were locked in a violent brawl that ranged all over the power plant. Unnoticed by either one, a small figure was making her way towards them. "Well, would you look at that," Miko chuckled to herself, "If it isn't old High Heels himself!" Jack was thoroughly occupied with the rest of the battle, watching out for Airazor. He seemed to see her as a kind of stand-in Arcee; Miko couldn't blame him.

She deftly wove her way through the melee, months of experience helping her avoid hotspots and duck precisely when needed. It was just like laser tag, or what she imagined laser tag would be like. Miko thought that one day she should actually play the game: she bet herself she'd be good at it. When she was finally close enough to Convoy and the Predacon, she held her camera up and smothered a giggle. Heaven help her universe's Starscream if she ever got a chance to show him these pictures. Unfortunately, the click of the shutter was a little louder than she'd expected. The look of astonishment on Starscream's faceplate would have been comical if not for the way his optics narrowed directly after. "What have we here?" he crooned. Miko was uncomfortably reminded of her encounter with a certain Decepticon SIC in a collapsed mine, and took a cue from the expression on Lio Convoy's face. The expression that very clearly said, "Get the heck out of there". Perhaps it should be noted that it is a very difficult thing to outrun a Predacon, particularly when that Predacon can transform into a bird of prey.

Miko struggled in the vise-like grip of the sneering mech and he fumbled, _just_ a little, in hopes of scaring her. "Starscream! Put the human down!" Lio Convoy growled. Starscream yawned, feigning boredom. "Tut tut, put her down? Or what?" With a flap of his wings, he rose higher into the air. "Back away, or I drop her. It's an awfully long way down, you know, when you don't have wings!" Airazor and the other Maximals charged over to join their leader, staring up at Starscream's hostage with horror in their optics. "Let her go, Predacon scum!" Polar Claw bellowed. The black raptor smiled cruelly. "As you wish!" He opened his claws and let Miko drop. A few seconds later, he caught the collar of her shirt on one talon. "Ooh, on second thought, better not! I think I'll hang on to this one awhile." On the ground, Airazor readied her plumes and looked questioningly at her leader. "No." Convoy shook his head. "If we try to rescue her, he'll drop her for certain. She could be gravely injured, if not killed."

Polar Claw couldn't accept that. "And vhat if ve are standing around here?" he growled. The lion knew what he was really asking. "He may drop her regardless," he sighed. "So...what do we do?" Break asked nervously. Stampy raised a hand timidly. "I think I have an idea." Before he could elaborate, Starscream suddenly squawked in either pain or distress and released his prisoner, shielding his optics. He shook his helm and screeched out a call of retreat to the remaining Predacon forces before taking to the skies. Polar Claw dove to catch Miko, who landed with a soft cry of pain. "Thanks, 'Claw," she gasped. Despite the rough landing, she looked overwhelmingly proud of herself. "What did you _do_?" Airazor asked, relieved that the little human was alive at all. Miko held up her cell phone, showing a close-up picture of Starscream's faceplate. "He wanted a better look at me, I snapped a shot with the flash on!" she crowed. She winced slightly, then hauled herself up to stare after the fleeing Predacon. "Go back to Vos, ya bum!" she hollered, shaking her fist at the sky, "You're no raptor! You're a chicken!"

"Ya know what?" Rattrap smirked, "You ain't so bad after all, kid."

* * *

"It ..._displeases_ me to report that the mission was a failure, my lord Galvatron." Starscream's words were pretty enough, but his tone spoke contrary to his speech. Galvatron was quite certain that the feathered Seeker was hardly displeased at all. The Emperor of Chaos leaned back. "Yet _another_ failure, Starscream. This is becoming a pattern, I fear." His scaly wings flexed lazily, and the air current buffeted the Seeker slightly: a subtle reminder that he could be torn to pieces any time Galvatron chose. "It certainly wasn't my fault, Master!" Starscream hastily scrambled for an excuse, "I am unaccustomed to these _incompetent_ drones, and-" "_Enough_." Galvatron waved a claw for silence, and motioned to a shadowed figure on the other side of the chamber. "Perhaps you will not fail me, as your comrade so clearly has." He stretched out one mighty limb in command. "Go. Attack another plant: we are sorely in need of the energy."

The small bat on the addressee's shoulder made a shrill keening sound, eager for combat. Its host moved his servos as if holding an instrument. A heavy electric guitar riff filled the halls of the ship, followed by a deep base. "It shall be done without delay, Lord Galvatron. And unlike _some_ I might mention, I will not fail you."

Galvatron smiled dangerously. "See that you do not."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, intrepid readers! That you are reading this now means that you have deigned to look upon my humble re-telling of brave kid's "Beast Saga", for which I thank you! What we have here is the next chapter, as set down by DJ R3M1X, and I have reworked it to flow with my narrative style. I hope you enjoy!**

**P.S: before reading this, you miiiight want to open a tab and look up "Razzle Dazzle Duke of Detroit" on YouTube. It'll give you a pretty good idea of a certain Predacon you're about to meet.**

* * *

Starscream ruffled his sadly untidy plumes, trying for some semblance of order. Some of the black feathers had been torn or burnt in his battle with that accursed Maximal, Lio Convoy. Starscream perched in the darkness, contemplating the battle and its unfortunate aftermath. A little girl—a tiny human femme barely out of _sparklinghood—_had bested him. _Him!_ Starscream, the wise and cunning, whose ebony wings were the envy of all Vos, brought low by a simple flash of light. How humiliating. Of course, the Maximals knew that his optics were better suited for the darkness—Pit, _every_ mech or femme who had heard of him knew that! Still, how would a child of Man know of his weakness to bright light?

His morose musings were interrupted by an irritating nasal. "Wazzzzpinator think Three-Head mad!" Starscream made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and flexed his injured wing. He ran his servos delicately over the ugly gashes where Galvatron's talons had slashed at him. Painful, but not deep: they served as a warning. The feathered Predacon glared up at Waspinator. "Oh _really_? Now, _what_ could have _possibly _given you _that_ impression?" Many things could be said of Waspinator, but that he had a knack for sarcasm was not one of them. The green and yellow mech tilted his helm to the side. "Wazzzpinator not underzztand." he said plaintively.

Two more Predacons entered the chamber, Buzz Saw and Terrorsaur. They snickered. "Wazzzzpinator _never_ underzzztand!" Buzz Saw jeered, mocking Waspinator's vocal quirk. "As usual!" Terrorsaur laughed. Starscream did not share their amusement. He was lost in thought, fists clenched and bent on murder. Faces flashed before his optics: Lio Convoy, the human girl, Galvatron. _I will have satisfaction for what you've done to me! _Starscream silently vowed, _Though I should die in the process, I'll have my revenge!_

* * *

It was beginning to feel like home, Jack had decided. The Maximal base was certainly different in appearance from Outpost Omega, but just being around alien titans once more reminded him of the place that was more home to him and his mother than their little house had ever been. It was, he found, a little like discovering new rooms in a house you've lived in all your life. Even in the few short days that he and Miko and Rafael had known the Maximals, the base had become a place of shelter, of familiarity. These were his thoughts as he painstakingly hauled himself up into the branches of one of the oak trees growing in the base. Putting one foot in front of the other, Jack edged out onto the limb as far as he dared go, balancing over the med bay where Apache worked on some project or other, humming tunelessly.

The erstwhile mandrill glanced up and smiled briefly at the sight. "Good morning, Jek-" "_Jack" _"Right, Jack. Apologies. Aren't you supposed to be in school?" The young man shook his head, nearly overbalanced, and sat down quickly to avoid a rather nasty fall. "I've still got a few hours before I need to be there." Living with an Autobot in the garage had quickly trained him to be an early riser, and he often spent an hour or two in the calm of the base before he and Arcee Bridged to Memorial High School. Apache nodded in understanding. "So then, young Jack: is there something I can help you with?" He continued to tweak the circuits of the tiny model Ground Bridge he was working on as the boy spoke thoughtfully. "The Predacon base is a warship, right?" The mandrill hummed an affirmative. Jack slid lower on the bough, closer to the Maximal. "The 'Cons lived on a warship too."

"We _know_ that, Squishy!" Rattrap rudely cut in from across the room, "It ain't like we're descended from Autobots or somethin'!" He glared up at Jack, disgruntled by having to look _up_ to see him. Oh, how he hated being the shortest Maximal! Then, the _one _time something shorter than him wanders around the base, and it puts itself up a tree and he's _still_ shorter than everyone! Up in the oak, Jack narrowed his eyes at the implied insult. "I know that, Rattrap," he remarked, endeavoring to keep his temper in check. Rattrap had that effect on people. "I just wanted to make sure I had it right." Before the demolitions expert could make another cutting reply, Apache turned to the human. "If you want a history lesson, my boy, I think you'd better ask Lio. He can tell the tale better than any of us!" Suddenly, Jack wasn't as confident. "Are you sure?" he asked nervously, "I'm sure he's busy. He's the leader after all! I wouldn't want to be a burden."

Jack didn't want to be a bother to the Maximals, he hadn't lied, but the truth of the matter was closer to the fact that he just wasn't comfortable around Lio Convoy. He wasn't _afraid _of the towering warrior, not exactly. It was just that there was something about him, something _wild, _that made one a bit nervous. He certainly wasn't Optimus Prime. Perhaps that's where the discomfort chiefly lay: Jack simply could not imagine any other leader but the titanic Prime from his own world. His train of thought abruptly derailed with a bark of laughter from Apache. "Intimidated a bit, are we?" Jack's face flushed as Rattrap joined the laughter. "Don't worry," Apache said reassuringly, "He has that effect on most!" It wasn't as comforting a notion as it was meant to be. "He _likes_ you kids—Primus knows why," Rattrap observed, "He ain't gonna say no!" Regardless, Jack tightened his grip on the branch, not ready to take their suggestions. Rattrap snickered and climbed partway up the trunk to grab the teen.

Jack didn't dodge quickly enough and found himself in a loose but unyielding grip. "Hey! Put me down!" he protested. Rattrap pretended to think it over. "Nah, don't feel like it." He strode jauntily away from Apache, still holding his irate captive. "Besides, you're the one who wanted the history lesson, ain't ya?" he yawned, "Well then, pipe down and be glad I'm takin' the time outta my day to help ya find Fearless Leader!" The boy muttered something rebelliously under his breath. "What was that?"

"I _said_, I knew there was a reason I disliked you from the start!"

"Likewise, kid. Likewise."

* * *

Miko was not as much of an early riser as Jack was. Right as the boy was being dragged off to see Lio Convoy, Miko had just finished getting dressed and was lying on her bed cycling through her cell phone pictures. A photo of Bulkhead; Bulkhead and Wheeljack; a group shot of the Autobots and humans; a very surprised Ratchet... Miko blinked back tears. "I miss you, Bulk," she whispered fiercely, "I miss you _all_." She set the phone down and looked over at the backpack hanging over her desk chair. One hour before school, and the last exam of finals week. She sighed. If this were her home dimension, she would be preparing to leave for Tokyo in a few weeks: a situation made less heartbreaking by the advantage of the Ground Bridge. Miko reached for the bag and groaned aloud when she realized that she'd left her science book at the base. That meant she wouldn't be able to squeeze in any last-minute studying as she walked to school.

Walking to school. Now _there_ was a foreign concept. Miko just wanted things to go back to normal, and she smiled when she realized what her definition of "normal" was. _Normal _was riding with a Wrecker to school, and being able to see him through the classroom window every time she got detention. _Normal_ was affectionately antagonizing the good old Docbot until he was ready to blow a fuse, while Optimus Prime merely watched with a twinkle in his optics. _Normal_ was waiting on the home front for her family to come back from battle, praying that everyone was in one piece. Well, in all honesty, it was more like sneaking along to the battle lines to make sure that everyone came home in one piece. Miko picked up the phone again, and her lips quirked upward when she came to the photo of the startled Starscream. She would not deny that there were things she would miss about this world as well.

She didn't have to worry about being taken back to Japan because of bad grades, for instance, because both her parents lived here. That was a definite plus. Polar Claw may not have been Bulkhead, but he never failed to charm her with his thick accent and apologetic optics. She hadn't spent enough time with the Maximals to know for sure, but Miko thought that it might be just as much fun to bother Rattrap as it was to annoy Ratchet. A slightly whiny voice floated through her door. "Miko! Where are my keys!" Ugh. It was Shirako, and the tone of his voice made it all too clear that he was accusing her of something. "I didn't touch them!" she shouted, shouldering her backpack and rolling her eyes. "Well then, where are they?" Shirako argued. Miko unlocked the door and stood back dispassionately as her older brother nearly fell into the room. "On the table where you left them, probably." she pushed past him, irritated. "I was just there, Mikoto!" the older boy hissed. Miko twitched at the use of her full name and whirled around. "I didn't touch your stupid keys, Shirako!" she growled, "Leave me alone!" She stormed down the stairs as the young man marched into her room, determined to find his misplaced keys.

_I am __**not**__ going to miss __**him**__! _Miko thought.

* * *

The lone vending machine in the school hallway rattled as it was kicked. With a whine of protest, it dropped three cans of soda into the bin and settled with a moody hiss of steam. "Dinosaur," Raf muttered, shooting it a stern look. The small boy gathered the the sodas into his arms and walked back to his friends at their customary spot on the front steps of the school. "Red for Jack—sorry, they were out of blue, Green for Miko, Yellow for me," he said happily, handing out the carbonated drinks. "Ready?" Miko grinned back as the three held their cans up high like conquering warriors. "Here's to the last day of final exams!" Miko cheered. "Here's to surviving two weeks in a foreign environment without raising suspicion!" Jack toasted. "Here's to new friends," Raf finished. They clicked the soda cans together for a moment, then popped them open with a hissing spurt.

Halfway down the sidewalk—and halfway through the drink—Miko's phone rang. The caller id was blocked when she checked the screen, but she shrugged and answered it all the same. "Hello?" A boisterous voice boomed through the tiny speaker, leaving the girl holding it slightly away from her ear. "I vill meet you outside of Jasper, yes?" The three humans smirked at each other. There was simply no one else with the same voice. "Polar Claw?" Miko asked, somehow managing to keep the smile out of her voice, "How the heck did you get my number?" "Apache looked it up for me," the Maximal sounded sheepish. "Is that being okay with you?" On the other end of the line, Miko pretended to think for a moment, drawing it out until she heard what sounded like a whimper from the bear. "Oh, okay!" she laughed, and Polar Claw realized that she'd been teasing him. He sighed in relief. "You can meet us vhere Main Street meets the desert!"

"That's mile marker 23, right?" Miko asked, motioning to the boys to follow her as she walked. "Yes, that is right." "Okay, 'Claw. See you in about...ten minutes." She looked back at Raf and Jack, both of whom looked slightly uncomfortable. Why did they...oh. Miko held the phone back up to her ear. "Hey, what about Raf and Jack? Do they have a ride to the base?" The reply was hasty, as if worried that the humans might take offense. "Da, Lio and Stampy are being here as well." Miko quirked an eyebrow. "Seriously? Why Lio Convoy?" Jack blinked in confusion and slight consternation as Miko mouthed to him, _Bossbot is waiting_. "Airazor is on patrol with Break," Polar Claw explained, "And Rattrap is being...hmm..." his voice grew faint for a moment. "How you say, Convoy? Ah yes! Difficult! Rattrap is being difficult!" As Miko relayed the message, Jack snorted. "Surprise, surprise," he muttered sarcastically.

Miko giggled a little then remembered something. "Oh hey, 'Claw! I found a new Slash Monkey album you might like!" She glanced at the colorful cd case sticking out of her backpack. "This is vonderful, Miko!" Polar Claw exclaimed, clearly excited, "But _please_ do not be giving it to Break again." Remembering the incident with the intercom, the Japanese teen cackled with glee. "No no no!" she said reassuringly, feigned innocence dripping from her words, "I wouldn't _dream_ of it!" Quickly, she hung up before Polar Claw could pick up on the sarcasm. Reaching back, she grabbed Jack and Rafael's hands and towed them behind her at a breakneck pace down the road. "Come on guys! The Maximals are waiting for us!"

* * *

The Maximals weren't the only creatures waiting that day. The bat-like Predacon lounged on the roof of the power plant, dangling his legs over the side. A Cruellock drone shambled up and hovered behind him. "How long are we supposed to wait?" it whined. Thin servos scraped the cement like nails on a chalkboard as the former irritably snapped, "Until we are ready to _rock_, we _wait_!" He pushed Ratbat's wing out of his faceplate for the fourth time that hour. Dratted deployer was always too clingy. Ratbat squeaked indignantly before moving over on his master's shoulder. The multi-colored dinosaur looked confused: a fairly common expression for Cruellocks. "But _when _will we be ready to rock?" Soundwave twitched. "When I _say_ so, you maladroit Mesozoic monster!" Bad-temperedly Soundwave shooed the lumbering Cruellock away before nimbly hopping to another building's roof. He gazed up at the skies intently.

"Where are you, Maximals?" he called in a sing-song voice, "Lio Connnnnvoyyyyy? Are you coming out to play?" In one fluid motion, he turned a somersault and landed on a lower roof, then sent Ratbat out to perform a sensor sweep of the power plant. The results were disappointing. The Predacon huffed. "Heeeere kitty kitty, here kitty!" he glided to a watch tower, clinging to the side for all the world like King Kong on the Empire State Building. "Lio Convoy? Aiiiiirazor? Whatsisname the Bear? Peter Cottontail?" the idle spy sighed and draped himself elegantly over the metal bars, lowering his voice in tone and pitch. "Anyone? …..anyone?...Bueller?" Soundwave pouted slightly. "What, suddenly I'm not important enough for you do-gooders to notice? I'm insulted. Insulted, I tell you!" At Ratbat's sudden squawk, the larger Predacon looked up to see a gray speck against the blue sky overhead. "Finally!" He leaped back to the roof where the Cruellock drones waited. The one who had spoken before rubbed his small hands together eagerly. "So...are we ready to rock _now_?"

Soundwave transformed—the unpredicted action vaulted his deployer off his shoulder, screeching in protest. Both hovered in the air over the drones, and a smug grin spread across Soundwave's beast face. Abruptly, he dove for the power plant. "Come on! The Show's about to start!"

Ten minutes later he learned, to his chagrin, that it had been nothing more than a passing jet. Petulantly, the Predacons settled in to wait again. And again. And again. What a very dangerous thing boredom can be! When one has nothing else to do, they usually find ways to occupy themselves that only cause trouble for others. An hour after the embarrassing discovery that the "Maximal" was a human aircraft, Soundwave was completely out of things to do. "Let's see," he muttered, "I've blown up half the joint, sent the humans running for their lives, accidentally squished a truck, gotten all the energy we need, and _still_ the Maximals haven't bothered to show up." He tilted his helm to the sky in frustration. "Come _on_! What do I have to do to get a little attention around here, usurp Galvatron?!"

Half an hour later, the spy was hanging upside down from a crossbeam in beast mode, sulking. He waited for _some_ kind of opposition with his wingtips brushing the ground. Every few seconds, the sensitive wings sent him bursts of information regarding the Cruellocks and their movements. Suddenly, he began to feel strong vibrations on the right that weren't heavy enough to be a drone. "Wait for it," he whispered. The vibrations got stronger. "Wait for iiiiiiit," he muttered. Whatever it was would come to him in time, he was certain. He was correct. In less than a minute, the Maximals finally appeared. _Fashionably late_, Soundwave noted. That there were only three Maximals and two humans did not damper his enthusiasm in the slightest. Finally! A chance to show off!

"Soundwave!" Airazor shouted, "Surrender or retreat, your choice!" Soundwave smirked. "Not until I trash this place—and you—like a rock star in a hotel room!" At this phrase, the human on Polar Claw's back peeked up at Soundwave curiously while the one at Airazor's side stolidly ignored him. Rattrap just glared at everyone and everything. Soundwave let go of the beam and transformed dramatically, landing in front of Polar Claw and his young charge. "Ah! You're the human who humiliated Starscream," he observed, and made a courtly bow. Miko shrugged. "Eh. If he can't take the beat, he shouldn't play with the band!" Soundwave chuckled. "I like your style, Kid." He held up his servos so that the Maximals could see that he held no weapons. "I'll tell you what: since I've been here _all day_ waiting for you to show up, why don't I just take sixty percent of the energy I've collected and go my merry way? That sounds fair, doesn't it? Easier on everyone that way."

"I don't think so, Pred!" Rattrap spat (literally and figuratively), "You ain't gettin' nothin'!" The smile that lit Soundwave's faceplate was downright predatory. "Oh, I was _so_ hoping you'd say that!" He sent out a pulse that called Ratbat to him. The deployer changed into the shape of a massive electric guitar, landing safely in his master's servos. Lovingly, the Predacon's servos strummed the strings, playing a chord so softly that the Maximals had to strain to hear it. So intent were they on hearing the chord to discover what it was that the spy was doing that they were completely unprepared for the shrill note that came next. Maximals and humans alike cried out and covered their ears in pain. "What's the matter?" Soundwave crowed, "Can't face the music?!" He cackled maniacally at his own wit and played another note, sneering as the two young humans doubled over and tried to block out the noise. "Oh don't _fret_," he cooed to Miko, "I'm just trying to strike a _chord_ between us! Why so highly _strung_?"

He laughed even louder as the girl growled through gritted teeth, "Your puns are bad and you should feel bad!" Airazor tried to shield the children with her wings whilst shouting into her commlink, "Apache! Come in, Apache, we could use some help!" After a moment's static, she got a response. "Airazor? I can't hear you, there's too much background noise! Wait, are you fighting Soundwave?"

"What do you think?!" Airazor was in no mood for niceties. "Excellent! I've been developing a tactic for just such an occasion, would you like to hear?" the medic exclaimed excitedly. Airazor smiled.

* * *

Utterly humiliated, Soundwave clutched Ratbat to his chestplate and stalked the command center. The Maximals and the humans had found a way to turn his sonic attacks—his music—against him! He wasn't sure how they'd hacked his personal comm, or what in the Seven Satellites of Cybertron a "Slash Monkey" was, but he never wanted to experience his processor ringing like that again. He had been defeated by his own genius. He halted his pacing and knelt, trembling, before his master to give his report. That he had managed to retrieve nearly all of the energy he had been sent to collect did not boost his confidence. One did not simply fail Lord Galvatron. From the shadows, Starscream watched in malicious glee as the bat Predacon explained just why he was speaking so loudly and having difficulty hearing. Starscream predicted a chastisement at _least_ as severe as his own had been and could hardly wait to see the arrogant mech taken down a peg or two. To his immense disappointment, Galvatron merely growled, "See that it does not happen again."

Relieved to have gotten off so lightly, Soundwave and Ratbat beat a hasty retreat.

* * *

**Almost through with the re-tellings, guys! Then we can move on to the rest of the story. Stay tuned, it's gonna get nuts!**

**By the way, Soundwave is insanely fun to write. And no, I'm not sorry for the horrible guitar puns.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Good evening or morning or afternoon!  
I didn't expect you all so soon,**

**But here you are by the light of the moon**

**To hear the rest of the story!**

**Pray DJ R3M1X feel no wrath,**

**But here we stray from the given path**

**(Though we stick to the tale, I've done the math)**

**Now let's hear the rest of the story!**

**All insanity aside, welcome to chapter 6! Those of you who have reviewed, your thoughts are highly appreciated! This chapter will hold most of the same events as DJ R3M1X's chapter 6, but not exactly in the very same order... eh, c'est la vie. Ok, did anyone watch "Gargoyles" growing up? Remember Goliath's really cool sometimes scary voice? That's Lio Convoy, according to Brave Kid. Yep, he's awesome.**

**You know, at this point, without the previously written chapters to guide me, I feel like Sam when Optimus says, "From here, the fight will be your own." Predacons, please don't kill me. **

* * *

Beady yellow optics watched in silence as Airazor walked into the corridor. The feathered femme was humming under her breath as she made her way through the maze of hallways, never suspecting that she was being observed. Airazor paused at a door leading into the Maximal's fuel vault and typed in the key. The door opened and she resumed her humming. The silent spy crept closer and closer until he was inches from her barred wings. He prepared to strike, slowly rising to his full height and—

"Break, as you hope to live to see tomorrow, you had better not be sneaking up on me." The young mech deflated instantly. "Awwww! What gave me away?" The falcon turned with a hand on her hip and smirked pityingly at him. "I have optics in the back of my helm. I know everything." The younger Maximal pouted enormously. "Oh come _on _Airazor! I'm so borrrrred!" He crossed his arms and walked away grumbling. He'd been so sure he would be able to scare her! "Hey, March of the Penguins!" the femme called from behind him. He turned, curious. Airazor wrapped a wing around his shoulder. "Convoy wanted somebody to go pick up Raf from his house this afternoon. You haven't been outside in a while, you wanna go with Stampy?"

The crushing hug she received from the very bored bird was answer enough. "I'm not going to die of boredom after all!" Break hollered jubilantly. He mock-saluted the falcon. "You have saved my life, I am eternally grateful!" "Yeah yeah, whatever kid." As the penguin darted off, Airazor heard a deep chuckle to her left. Lio Convoy leaned on the door frame with an eyebrow raised. "He was bugging me." the femme said airily. She swished her wings and retreated back into the fuel room. The Convoy shook his helm, but he was smiling. Airazor put up with Break's shenanigans far more than she let on. He supposed the old adage, "Birds of a feather" might have something to do with it, as there were no other avians in the Maximals.

The erstwhile lion pushed off of the wall and returned to the main chamber of the base. The Ground Bridge was open, and Jack and Miko had just hopped through...holding something labeled "Miko's Party Box". Lio halfway wondered whether he ought to do something about the potential doom in that container, but decided that Rattrap could _most likely_ handle it. Something in Lio's spark warmed when he saw the little humans laughing together over something that had happened at school. He had no way to explain the feeling other than some strange idea that before the night he'd found them on the mesa, his family had been incomplete. The moment he'd stepped into the moonlight and spoken to the three, it had been as if his spark had said, _At last! There you are._ Even when they were causing trouble—which he did not doubt they were doing at this very moment—the humans were a source of delight to perhaps every Maximal but Rattrap. But no one paid much attention to what Rattrap didn't like: the category was simply too broad.

* * *

Raf unlocked the door and sighed. "Mama, Papa, I'm home!" he called. Jack and Miko were lucky. Their families were out often enough that they could Ground Bridge to base from their rooms without anyone noticing. Raf felt like he lived in a rabbits' warren by comparison. "Mama?" the house was, oddly, empty. Not even his brothers and sisters were home for once! Then again, it _was_ the last day of school. Naturally the rest of the Esquivel kids would be out celebrating with their friends. Raf sighed again and wandered into the kitchen. Pinned to the fridge was a note from his parents. "Hola, Raf," the boy read aloud, "Don't forget we have Yoga Class until this evening. We'll be home later, love Mama and Papa." Raf blinked. "Yoga class?! Since when do my parents do Yoga class?!" Grumbling, the little boy opened the fridge, looking for something at least a little unhealthy.

Suddenly there came a tapping _as of something gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door_ Raf giggled. _I need to stop reading Edgar Allan Poe..._ He turned around, expecting to see a little bird at the window feeder. The apple dropped from his hand and rolled under the table, forgotten. "Stampy! Break?! Why are you in my mother's garden?!" Nevermind that there was a rabbit the size of a horse and a penguin taller than a man outside, he was more concerned about the garden. Stampy's ears drooped and he conspicuously tried to wipe carrot crumbs from his face. "Sowwy Waf," he mumbled with his mouth full, "They taste so good!" "We're here to take you home with us!" Break declared. Dazed, Rafael made his way outside. "You ate. My mother's. Carrots." he stared at the garden which was, for all intents and purposes, destroyed. "Oh my gosh, she's gonna _kill _us! Why'd you eat them anyway? I thought you guys lived on energon!"

Break shrugged his downy shoulders. "Yeah, that stuff's good for weapons and gear and all, but it's kinda hard to find. Organic food works as well as anything else when you've got a beast mode!" The penguin's tank made a strange gurgling noise. "Speaking of which..." he tried to smile at Raf, but having a beak makes gestures like smiling a little difficult, if not impossible. The boy tried not to laugh, but Stampy looked so ashamed of himself, and Break trying to smile was pretty funny. "Wait here," he giggled. Raf dashed inside and came back a moment later with a large frozen fish. "Hopefully Mama wasn't planning to cook this tonight," he muttered as Break gratefully swallowed it whole. "Aw, yuck!" Stampy gagged, "You didn't even take the wrapping off!" The penguin's optic's bulged. "I _wasn't_ supposed to eat that?" he started hacking and coughing. "Break? Break!" The Maximal paused to stare down at the little boy. "You don't need air, remember? You can't choke."

"Oh."

* * *

Jack knelt beside the box, a mischievous grin spread across his face. "No really, Miko. I did this with my dad once when I was _really _little. I swear it'll work." Miko twirled her pony tail around her fingers. "Well, it's not fire, but it _is_ explosions. I don't see why the _type_ of soda matters though." The boy handed her a liter of diet cola. "Just trust me." The girl shrugged, and pulled out a pack of Mentos. "Just...don't do it in here. Please. You might kill the plants," Jack stipulated. "Ughhhhh...alright, but Rattrap's room is fair game, right?" Jack stood and plugged his ears. "I did not just hear that! I also did not hear that Rattrap is currently recharging in his quarters. Or that he left his door unlocked. Nope, Didn't hear or see anything!" Miko cackled. "He can be taught!" she punched him on the shoulder and ran out into the corridor with her makeshift bomb.

"Jackson?" The boy reacted without thinking. "Yes, Optimus?" Heat flooded his cheeks and he covered his face. "Sorrysorrysorry! Lio Convoy!" The Maximal looked down at him curiously. "You mistook me for Optimus Prime?" there was no hint of offense or displeasure in the rumbling voice, only curiosity and a hint of awe. The boy shrugged uncomfortably. "Yeah...it's the voice...and the helm...and basically your whole robot mode. You look just like him." Lio looked sympathetic. "I see. Does this bother you?" Jack's eyes widened. "Wha? No! No, of course not! It's just...a little weird." Lio Convoy stooped and picked the boy up. "I only wished to see whether you wanted to hear more of our history. We did not get much of a chance to speak earlier, as you had to leave for school." Jack smiled nervously. "Actually, I _have_ been wondering how Cybertron made the switch to animal modes." With a sudden heave, the massive Cybertronian effortlessly hauled himself and his precious cargo into one of the trees in the central chamber and settled himself against the trunk, setting Jack down on his knee.

Lio Convoy had the perfect voice for storytelling. Deep and warm with a touch of gravel, exactly the way Jack had always imagined a lion would sound if it could talk. "It happened before I was sparked, you must understand, so I only repeat what I have learned. After the Great War, there was peace for a long time. You recall that I had begun to tell you about the Second Golden Age yesterday?" He waited until Jack confirmed this, then continued. "It was a time of invention, exploration. The Cybertronians formed colonies on many worlds. We were even accepted into the Intergalactic Council again; they had barred all Cybertronians from entry for as long as the War endured." Jack shifted his position and propped his chin on his fists, listening intently. Lio Convoy spoke of the great explorers of the time, including Optimus Primal, a descendant of the mighty Prime whose name he carried. "There came a day when one femme who had decided to explore the deepest canyons on Cybertron discovered a strange, unknown energy source. No one knew what it was, or where it came from, but it was harmful to those with vehicle modes."

"Harmful how?" Jack asked, nearly tipping backwards off Convoy's knee. The mech steadied him with one hand and rested his helm against the tree. "I was not online then, I am not certain. I do know that when the time came for me to choose my alt-mode, it felt as if something was battering at my spark. The bio-tech insulates us and protects us from that energy, Jack." He seemed lost in thought for a moment, and Jack was content to wait until he spoke again. Faintly, a sudden crash and hiss was heard from the living quarters of the Maximals, followed by an outraged Rattrap screaming, "Gah! What is this stuff?! Get back here, ya lousy little squishy!" Miko came tearing out of the corridor faster than Jack had known she could move. She skidded to a halt by Apache's work station and shut herself into a cupboard. "We're going to have to get her out of there later, aren't we?" Jack sighed. "Indeed," Lio chuckled, "But not until Rattrap has given up." Said rodent came barreling into the room seconds later. "Where is she?" he snarled, "Little punk's messed up my whole room!"

He was covered in soda foam, which was sticking to his fur and armor as it dried. Lio pretended not to notice the smaller Maximal and returned to telling his story. "As time went on, the few remaining Ancient Autobots refused to accept the upgrade and sequestered themselves away. The Maximal Council overtook the ruling of Cybertron, and locked away any information on the Great War lest old grudges be reawakened." Speaking of grudges, Rattrap was now poking around the bushes and behind trees, looking for Miko. "Where are ya, Runt?" he growled, "Come out! I ain't gonna hurtcha...much." He neared the cabinet where the girl was hiding. Miko was saved by a timely klaxon. "Ah-ha! Looks like an energy spike in Illinois!" Apache announced cheerfully. "Chicago to be precise. Well, the _sewers_ beneath Chicago to be _really_ precise." Rattrap bristled. "Why'd ya look at me when you said sewers?!" he sputtered indignantly. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Lio called, "Understood, Apache. Rattrap, take Polar Claw and locate the power source before the Predacons do. Apache, prepare the Ground Bridge." Rattrap grumbled, but did as he was told.

Jack began to slip again, and Lio moved him to his shoulder. "Lio Convoy, are there still Primes?" he asked softly. "No, little one. There have been no Primes for a long, long time," the Maximal said sadly. "Still, I hold out hope that perhaps one day, we will have a Prime again."

* * *

"_Soundwave._" The shadowy figure of Galvatron hissed. Without warning, the bat unfolded himself from the ceiling and gracefully landed in a kneeling position. "You rang, my lord?" he said smoothly. Galvatron's upper lip twitched in either amusement or annoyance. "Given your last..._encounter_ with the Maximals, I would feel better about sending you into battle knowing you had a _partner_ to watch your back." The purple optics burned into Soundwave's; there was no way of knowing whether the master was truly concerned for him or not. The last few days on the warship had been a little hairy for everyone. "A partner, my lord? But I play solo!" Soundwave had the gall to whine. Galvatron silently flexed his talons: a reminder of the consequences of defying him. "On the _other _hand," Soundwave stammered, "Who _doesn't_ need someone to carry the gear every now and then? I'm sure we'll get along like Knock Out and Breakdown! Where is the mech?"

"Sei ruhig!" a scornful voice sneered, (**a/n: sei ruhig means "be quiet"**) "You vill find no "mech" partner here! Ich bin _femme_, Zoundwaif." "_Soundwave_!" "That iss vat I said." Soundwave looked around in vain for the speaker. He jumped when she whispered from behind him, "You do not see me, do you _Partner_? Nein, you do not. Perhaps your optics need checking?" Soundwave gritted his denta as Ratbat silently pointed out the feathered femme leaning on a large mace. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen her before! Her pure white feathers stood out in the dim room. Her crimson optics glittered cruelly and she tossed her helm back with a haughty gesture. "Mein name ist Zviftclaw!" A dark chuckle echoed from their master. "Good, the two of you are acquainted. Now then: go to the following coordinates and seize the energy being harvested by the Maximals. Bonecrusher is already there." The dragon heaved a longsuffering sigh. "_Do_ see to it that he completes his mission, won't you? Bonecrusher is so _easily _distracted some days." Neither Soundwave nor Swiftclaw felt like questioning their leader, and so with twin shouts of "Terrorize!" they transformed into a bat and a barn owl and flew through the Ground Bridge.

They landed in a dark, smelly tunnel next to what was quite possibly the largest alligator in America. For once, the urban legends had a grain of truth in them: there was a giant gator in the sewers, and his name was Bonecrusher. He transformed into a hulking brute of a mech and glared sourly at the two flyers. "What's de potain, eh?" (**a/n: "potain" means ruckus. Bonecrusher is Cajun. And yes, I looked up a Cajun dictionary to know how to spell this stuff. Even the "de" instead of "th".**) He leaned on the brick wall. "Why are y'all down here, when ya oughta be up dere?" He indicated the ceiling vaguely in reference to the warship. The owl transformed and Swiftclaw sneered in disgust. "Ve vere told by Lord Galfatron to assist you in collecting the energy." The gator shrugged. "Well, dat's alright with me den, cheri. I hear rumblings down de line that the Maximals are on deir way to make de misere for us all." He rolled his massive shoulders. "Far as I know, our source oughta be just 'round de next couple turns."

He led the way with a dismissive Swiftclaw and a cringing Soundwave behind him. A faint light filled the tunnels ahead as they sloshed through—well, Soundwave was pointedly trying _not_ to think about what they were sloshing through. Suddenly, there was a _snap-hiss_ as the familiar green vortex of a Ground Bridge appeared before them. Two Maximals hopped out and crouched into fighting positions. "Back off, Preds!" Rattrap snarled, "You ain't getting' this rock!" Polar Claw nodded decisively. "Da! It is, as they say, Time to Rumble." Swiftclaw snickered and slammed her mace into the ground. "Vith pleashure, Polar Claw! Always _nice_ to haff the chance to settle old scoress!" She charged the bear with a shrill, painful shriek. He blocked her talons, but not her mace. The blow sent the bear flying into Rattrap, who had been halfway to the glowing rock giving off the energy readings. "Annnd _stay_!" Soundwave played a chord on Ratbat, sending a pulse that threw the Maximals down again. "_Good_ Maximals!" he laughed.

"Mais, Predacons, Allon!" Bonecrusher yelled, "I got de rock!" Soundwave requested a Ground Bridge and Swiftclaw spat scornfully at the downed Maximals. "Vat is the expreshon? Ah, later, loosers." Soundwave sent one last sonic blast before the three Predacons vanished into the portal. Polar Claw and Rattrap sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Vell krisa." (**a/n: "well rats"**)

"Hey!" Rattrap glared up at the bear, who shrugged. "Iff shoe fits."


	7. Chapter 7

**And now we come to chapter 7, in which ****_things_**** start to happen. **

**I will say no more.**

* * *

"Boss! Hey Boss!" They all smelled Rattrap before they saw him. "_Phwaw_! Where've you been _crawling_, Tunnel Rat?" Airazor gagged. Beside her, Miko slapped a hand over her mouth and tried not to revisit lunch. "Okay, first: it's Rattrap. Not _Tunnel Rat_, not _Templeton_, not _Cluny the scrappin' Scourge_. Rattrap. And second: we got ambushed by Preds. It ain't our fault we discovered an incredible new smell!" Lio Convoy chose that moment to enter the room. "Rattrap, how did the mission—urgh!" He held a hand over his faceplate. "What _happened_?" A sheepish-looking Polar Claw shuffled up beside the rodent, equally soaked and equally foul-smelling. "We were wery near the energy spike," the bear sighed, "It vas an energos pyrite stone. We were bridging right into three Predacons." "Four if you count Ratbat," Rattrap interjected. "Da, Rattrap, I was just coming to that," the bear nodded sleepily. "We were outnumbered and they had most unscrupulous new soldier!" All doziness left his faceplate as his optics suffused with rage. "_Fol, predatel'skiye garpii! Diversant shakht i trus_!" ("Foul, treacherous harpy! Saboteur of mines and coward!")

Airazor started. "Not Swiftclaw?" she guessed. The frustrated roar that left Polar Claw's lips answered her. Miko tugged one of the falcon's feathers. "Who's Swiftclaw?" she asked quietly, "I don't remember her in the rap sheet of Predacons." Airazor grimaced. "She's..." She thought for a moment. "Generally she's a freelance terrorist. The Maximal council suspects that she was behind the Metroplex bombing." That didn't clear anything up for Miko. She turned to Apache questioningly. The large mech sighed and searched his files for a video shot of the femme in question. Miko watched with eyebrows raised as the snowy owl gleefully tore a Battle-type drone to shreds just for the heck of it. "Tread on my vings, vill you?" she screeched, "You haff made your last mistake!"

"Dude. She's nuts," Miko was not impressed. Polar Claw snarled savagely. "I vas in mine for a long time before joining Maximals. I vas wery good at it, top of my guild. Then one day she came." Rattrap edged away from the tense warrior as he remembered. "She sabotaged whole operation, just for kicks! I vas the only surwivor." Despite the reek of his fur, Miko jumped from the tree and ran to the bear comfortingly. "Scrap, 'Claw, I'm sorry! Tell ya what: she messes with you, she messes with me." Miko cracked her knuckles and grinned. "And as Hardshell found out, when you pick a fight with one Wrecker, you pick a fight with 'em all!" The Maximals exchanged concerned glances over her head. _Hardshell_? The infamous Insecticon? Oblivious, Miko had already begun plotting Swiftclaw's demise. "Don't worry about a thing, 'Claw," she vowed, "That _Doitsugūn_ (German Goon) is going down!"

"Er, she's not really German..." Apache tried to tell them, but no one seemed interested. He blinked when he suddenly realized (quite belatedly) that Miko was the only human in the base. "Where are the boys?" he wondered. Convoy replied as he ordered Polar Claw and Rattrap to the was racks. "Rafael is out with Break and Stampy. They needed some time off to relax." He smiled a little, thinking of the youngsters. "And I believe Jackson has some chores to do before he comes today."

* * *

"Ah, they're getting at the henhouse again," the older man grumbled, nudging a dead chicken with the toe of his boot. "Jack, go get the barbed wire out of the truck, would you?" The boy nodded and jogged to the dusty red pickup, standing on the hubcaps to reach the sharp coil. Together, they lined the dirt outside the chicken wire with the barbs. "Well, that'll hold them for now," Tim sighed, "But they'll be back." Jack snorted ruefully. "Always another skirmish, huh?" The Paiute man laughed. "That's about the size of it! Old Tim wages his battle to destroy the evil forces of the predators." He frowned. "They've been a lot more aggressive lately. That's not natural for coyotes."

Jack grinned. "You could always ask the Falcon to scare them off, but she'd probably eat your chickens too." Mr. Whitefeather raised an eyebrow. "_She,_ Jack? And here I thought you didn't believe my stories anymore!" The younger man flushed and stammered for a moment. "I...I dunno, I tend to think of falcons as feminine!" he blurted out, desperate for an excuse. Tim shrugged, accepting it, to Jack's relief. They finished laying the barbed wire and hopped into the truck to get to the next fence post. In the cab, Tim kept stealing glances at Jack, as if trying to decipher something. Finally, the older man asked, "Is something bothering you, son? You've been a little on edge recently."

"What? No, no sir. I'm fine," Jack hoped he didn't sound too eager to reply. Then, because the man didn't seem satisfied with his answer, "Well, I did run into my friend Miko's older brother on the way here. The guy's a pain in the neck." He grimaced, remembering the obnoxious teenager's challenge to race him. "I told him I wasn't going to go street racing and he called me a coward in front of six other people." His eyes hardened. "Not that it matters what he calls me. You couldn't pay me to get into one of those races. Once is enough," he muttered.

"Well, I'm going to _pretend_ I didn't hear that last part," Tim winked, "And go on record saying that you, Jackson Darby, are anything but a coward. In fact, you have more of a warrior's heart than a lot of adults I know." He put the truck in park and placed a wrinkled hand on the boy's shoulder. "Trust me, son. I've been impressed by how much you've matured since we first met." The words hit Jack like a punch in the gut, and for a moment he could not breathe. '_I've been impressed by how much you've matured since we first met_'. The memory of another voice repeating the comforting phrase caught at his heart. "I, uh, thanks. Thanks, Mr. Whitefeather," Jack mumbled, discreetly wiping his eyes.

Tim kicked open the dented driver's side door and hopped out. "Stop number three!" he exclaimed, pretending not to see the tears in Jack's eyes. Whatever was wrong, he was sure the boy would tell him when he was ready. He stopped short and tipped his head to the west. Jack sent him a quizzical look as he slipped out of the cab. The Native American man climbed over the fence with a speed that belied his size. "Jack, grab my rifle out the backseat and meet me on that rise," he said in a low voice, pointing out a scrub-covered hill. Jack did as he was told, slinging the old 30-30 across his back and hurrying to catch up.

Mr. Whitefeather crouched at the top of the rise. "Listen!" he hissed. Jack strained his ears, trying to tune out the wind. Then he heard it: the distinctive yelping of coyotes. "What's a rout doing this close at this time of day?" he whispered. Tim shook his head. "Something's spooked them." He pointed down the range to where the pack of feral canines could just barely be seen. "See that big one with the short tail?" Tim gestured to what was clearly the alpha male of the rout. "He leads most of the chicken coop raids—not much startles him." Jack shifted uncomfortably and passed the rifle to Mr. Whitefeather. He had a suspicion of what might've scared the coyotes, he only hoped it didn't come their way. The two men sheltered in the brush watching the agitated dogs for a moment longer.

Suddenly, Jack jerked in surprise. "What the—?" He pointed at a sleek black shape moving among the rocks. Tim shaded his eyes. "What? I don't see..." He trailed off. "Jack, get back in the truck and cover your ears." His voice was hard as flint. The boy practically slid down the hill and waited next to the cab. The roar of a gunshot echoed across the desert land and Mr. Whitefeather came hurrying down after. "Told you to get in the truck!" he growled. "What if you'd needed help?" Jack argued. Tim relented slightly, but pushed the boy into the cab all the same. "New plan: lock down the barn," he sighed, "The _last_ thing we need is a jaguar around here."

"Jaguars don't live in Nevada!" Jack pointed out. The older man chuckled dryly. "Neither do giant falcons and white lions." Jack took the hint and said no more. He silently planned to ask Airazor to check out the ranch later, to make sure the "jaguar" wasn't really a Ravage-type Predacon. The chickens were far from pleased at being moved into the barn, and the buffalo wasn't especially thrilled either. Jack winced as some _particularly_ peeved poultry expressed their displeasure with him. "Ow! Ow, stop it!" he grumbled, "I know you don't like it in here, but it's for your own good!" After several lacerations, all ten chickens were shoved into wire cages under the loft stairs.

Jack glanced at his watch. He had about twenty minutes before he was supposed to meet the others at Outpost Omega. Tim caught the gesture and nodded. "Yeah, I know. A boy's got to have _some_ sort of social life." His lips quirked upward a moment, then fell again. "But I don't want you riding back to town on that ten-speed while that cat's out there—and I think your mother will agree with me!" Reluctantly, the boy consented and Mr. Whitefeather drove him back to the edge of town. "Tell your mom to let the neighbors know we've got a displaced big cat hanging around. I'll keep an eye on the desert area for awhile." Jack hopped out at the stop sign. "Be careful," he said quietly. Tim laughed. "That's my line!" The red truck shifted into gear and pulled back out into the desert towards the ranch.

Jack slipped his cellphone from his pocket and dialed quickly. "Hey, Airazor? Yeah, it's me. Can I get a Bridge?"

* * *

Black feathers fluttered like a tattered cloak as Starscream paced. "That I shall have my revenge is unquestioned," he snarled, "All that remains to be seen is how it shall be enacted!" Terrorsaur tipped his ungainly helm to the side, watching him. "You still mad about Galvatron beating you up?" The former's voice grew syrupy sweet. "_What_? Oh, why _no_! No, my _dear_ Terrorsaur, whatever made you think _that_?" Starscream ground his denta. "No, no. I was referring to those _accursed Maximals_ and their _filthy_ little pet!" Talons clenched and unclenched. Terrorsaur was no blabber-beak, but Starscream still didn't trust him enough to outright plot against Galvatron in his presence.

"Wazzzzzpinator not like Maximalzzz!" a third Predacon declared. Terrorsaur and Buzz Saw nodded. "Mech, you said a mouthful!" Buzz Saw agreed.

"Yeah, I hate Maximals! They're so pushy!" Terrorsaur pitched in.

"And smelly!"

"And boy are they uuuuugly!" The two finished in a paroxysm of laughter.

Starscream groaned and massaged his temples. "I'm_ surrounded_ by _idiots_," he sighed. Having garnered their attention, he swaggered into their midst. "I don't suppose any only you would care to show those Maximals who's boss?" The others shifted in the dark, uncomfortable. "Well, Lord Galvatron never ordered—" Buzz Saw was interrupted. "Lord Galvatron need never _know_!" Starscream patted his shoulder reassuringly. "It's not as if you'd be doing anything he told you _not_ to do!"

Just as the lights began to come on in their optics, the crafty mech changed tactics. "Then again, perhaps not. After all, what are a few Predacons to a whole gang of Maximals? No, _out _of the question! It's simply _too_ risky!" Terrorsaur bridled at the unspoken criticism. "Hey! You saying we couldn't take 'em?!" The feathered schemer paced, seemingly ill at ease. "Oh dear me _no_! _I_ certainly wasn't questioning your bravery, or your skill! But Jasper, Nevada is no place for winged things—oops!" He clapped his servos to his mouth. "Oh _dear_, I've said too much!"

"Jazzzper, eh?" Waspinator rubbed his hands together and fluttered his wings. "Comrades," Starscream said in a tone of feigned concern, "_Promise_ me you won't go down there without permission! Why, if something were to happen to you, I simply couldn't _forgive_ myself!" Buzz Saw elbowed Waspinator and winked at Terrorsaur. "Suuure! We promise. No worries, 'Scream." They backed out of the chamber, chuckling. Starscream kept the caring expression in his faceplate until they'd left. "Fools!" he cackled, "That ought to keep them out of my feathers for a while. Now, "master", for you!"

In the darkest corner of the ceiling, a wide pair of purple optics observed dispassionately. For half a moment, the light from the doorway caught the shimmer of the Scraplet's golden frame, but it quickly scuttled out of sight. It's optics glowed brighter than ever as it felt its Master enter its mind. _Fools indeed_, Galvatron mused, _Yet their punishment shall not be so severe as yours will, my dear Starscream, should you attempt to bring your plans to fruition!_

* * *

Lake Priscilla was normally a calm and peaceful place, tucked away in the pine forests of Jasper, Nevada. Anyone traveling through the town would see the flat, dusty desert area and decide that there was nothing much to see. Anyone on the highway might catch a glimpse of it from an overpass, but there were no roads to it. Lake Priscilla was secluded and private, the perfect place for thought.

Well, not today.

Wet, bare feet slapped the rock as a small figure dashed up the hill and launched himself out over the water with a wild cry. Raf came up for air, laughing. "Come on in, guys!" he shouted to the two young Maximals on the shore, "The water's great!" He failed to tell them that "great" actually meant "freezing cold."

"Alright, if you insist!" Break waddled delicately to the end of the rock, then transformed into robot mode and backed up to give himself a running start. Stampy, who was nowhere near as confident as Break about swimming, looked from the penguin to the lake and yelped. "No no no no! If you jump, it's gonna—" _Kersplash!_ A tidal wave roared out of the pond and over the reluctant rabbit. Break and Raf howled with glee at the soaked youngling glaring at them. "You guys had better hope this water's sanitary!" Stampy grumbled, but all the same he waded in to join the other two. Rafael clambered up onto Stampy's shoulder. "Cowabunga!" he whooped, flinging himself back into the lake. Before long, a fully-fledged splash war had begun between the three of them. Hardly thinking of there being danger in the water, they fooled around and played at holding their breath for as long as possible. They never dreamed that they were being watched by a pair of scheming eyes.

* * *

Miko adjusted her goggles and peered down over Airazor's wings. "So, why am I out here again?" the girl asked. Beneath her, the falcon snorted. "What, are you _only_ Polar Claw's friend? Come on! We need some girl time!" Miko shrugged. "Fair point. Back home, I'm just used to Arcee only hanging out with me when Bulkhead was there. She's a little stand-offish if ya know what I mean." Airazor blinked. "Well, I never met Arcee, so I can't say I know what you mean. Still," she tucked her wings close to her body and tilted into a dive, wringing an ecstatic whoop from her passenger, "If I were her, I'd take advantage of having someone around who understands femme stuff." For a while, neither one spoke as they whirled through the clouds over the desert with the wind whistling admiringly around them.

"I think that's the ranch, down there!" Miko shouted, pointing. Airazor circled lower, coasting on the breeze. "Hey, I know this place!" she remarked, "I stole a chicken from this guy once." The massive bird of prey snickered a little. "Don't tell Jack about that." The human girl laughed as well, leaning close to the falcon's neck. "Speaking of Jack, if he's the one who saw a battle-Ravage thing, why isn't _he_ out here?" Airazor swooped low over the henhouse and the barn, mildly disappointed that no chickens were outside. "The rancher thinks Jack is back in town, Miko. What if he were to come outside and see him? He'd have all kinds of questions Jack couldn't answer. This way, if he looks up, he'll see a girl riding on a hawk and dismiss it as fantasy." The falcon's primary feathers grasped at the air around them and she spread her wings wide. The pair glided over the ranch and down to the pass of rocks were the coyotes had been seen.

Landing, Airazor transformed, sending Miko to the ground with a thump. The femme frowned. "Something doesn't feel right out here," she murmured. Miko slid down the hill, sending a cascade of smaller rocks tumbling before her. "Whoa!" the girl cried, "Check out these prints!" She whipped her cellphone out of her pocket and began taking photos of the large paw prints. Airazor leaned down to examine the trail. "Well, there's the rout of coyotes, for certain." She straightened up and shaded her optics. "I imagine they're hiding in a hole or cave or something around here." She knelt again and traced her servos around the other set of tracks. "This is _big_ all right, but it's not _battle-Ravage_ big. If I were to guess, I'd say this fellow came up through Arizona, and probably Mexico before that." The femme and the girl both shuddered suddenly and Miko looked around warily. "Too bad it wasn't a 'Con. I'd love to see a smackdown! Still..._how_ big did you say that jaguar was?"

"Big enough that we probably don't want to be on the ground right now." Airazor answered, transforming. The human teen grimaced and hoisted herself up onto the feathery back. "Riiight. Well, now what?" The Maximal's voice was teasing as she flapped her wings and rose off the ground. "I don't know, I thought I might dye some of my feathers to match your hair!" Miko was certainly enthusiastic about the idea, and Airazor wondered if she hadn't opened a can of worms. She briefly caught sight of the jaguar as they left the range, and her concern grew. If the predators of the region were being driven out into the daylight in varying states of discomfort, something was coming.

Something big.

* * *

Jack looked around the main chamber cautiously. There seemed to be no sign of Apache, or any other Maximal for that matter, but he wasn't taking any chances. Carefully, he made his way to the main console screen and climbed up onto the control panel. "Okay," he let out the breath he'd been holding. "Galvatron...Galvatron, let's see..." The computer wasn't too far removed from the one in the base from his home dimension, though some of the keys were unfamiliar to him. It didn't take the boy too long to find the file relegated to the Predacon tyrant. "Scrap," he muttered, "It _would_ be written in Cybertronian." Sighing, Jack began the painstaking process of translating the document. He was nowhere near as proficient at the language as Rafael seemed to be, and Miko only ever picked up swear words, so she was no help.

He sat cross-legged on the console, chin propped on his fists as he struggled through the first paragraph about Galvatron's rise to power. There seemed to be a great deal of information about the colony worlds, rather than Cybertron itself. Jack shrugged. Maybe Galvatron had decided to start small and move his way up towards bigger things? He was so focused on his reading that he never heard Apache enter the room. "Great Seasons!" the voice startled Jack so badly that he fell backwards off the console and barely managed to grab the edge before hitting the floor. The medic stormed over and shut down the screen. "You're not supposed to be in here, looking at that!" he scolded, picking the boy up by the collar, "What, you want to give yourself nightmares for weeks?" Jack scowled at the mandrill. "I thought it would be useful to know something about the enemy!" he argued. The gold faceplate crinkled in a mixture of outrage and disbelief. "Why would you want to know anything about that wretch? It isn't as though _you'll_ ever be fighting him!"

Jack dangled from his grasp with his arms crossed over his chest. "You don't _know_ that I won't. No war is predictable! What if Predacons were to wander through the streets of Jasper tomorrow? Would you expect us to wait patiently for the Maximals to arrive?" Apache huffed indignantly and stumped away from the computer, still holding Jack by the collar. "Of course I would! You're _humans_ for the Allspark's sake! You're not equipped to fight Predacons—" He broke off suddenly as an idea blossomed in his mind. "You're _not _equipped to fight..." he murmured. He opened his hand and let Jack fall. The boy's shirt caught on a branch in the nearby tree and he swung there helplessly. "Run along, you young rip. Stay out of my laboratory!" he scolded, and with that he wandered off, muttering about "equipping". "Hey!" Jack shouted after him, "Aren't you going to help me down?" No answer was forthcoming. Jack remained halfway up the tree for several minutes, then a warm voice snapped him out of his grumbling thoughts.

"You appear to have upset the delicate internal balance of our medic." Lio Convoy watched him in beast mode. His voice was stern, but there was a twinkle in his optics. Jack's cheeks burned. "I was just curious," he mumbled. The massive lion stepped forward and nudged the boy gently with his nose, knocking him out of the tree. Lio moved quickly, catching the teen on his back. Jack slid to the ground, embarrassed. The lion regarded him silently, but said nothing. Jack tried not to squirm. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble," he ducked his head between his shoulders. Golden eyes bored into blue for what seemed like hours before the Convoy spoke. "Walk with me." Jack swallowed hard, but dared not refuse. He hurried to keep up with the giant Maximal as they left the room and began to wander the corridors of the base. "Tell me, Jack: why do you wish to learn about Galvatron?" Lio asked quietly. Startled by the sudden conversation, Jack stuttered for a few moments before answering. "I...I just thought that...um..." he blushed and pulled a hand down over his face. "I wanted to know as much as possible in case I ever have the misfortune of meeting him." "I see." They walked in silence for several moments more, leaving the corridors and coming to an open courtyard that certainly hadn't been there in the Autobot version of the base. Jack waited for him to say that humans had no chance against the Emperor of Destruction and that he needn't bother himself with matters that did not concern him, but Lio said none of these things.

His optics held a faraway look when he asked, "Did you mark the scar upon his chest?" Jack nodded. "I did, sir." The lion padded softly over the loose earth of the garden-like area. "It may be the only thing that keeps him from attacking us," Lio Convoy sounded ever-so-slightly incredulous, as if he wasn't sure he ought to believe his own words. The human was fascinated. "How did he get it?" he asked, hurrying to catch up. The Maximal shook his mane. "It was on a colony world," he began, and Jack closed his eyes, trying to picture it. "I believe it was one of Praxis's satellites, in fact. Galvatron had been steadily gaining ground across the galaxy. Wherever he and his horde traveled, cities fell before them, and they never spared the lives of those who opposed them." The lion's jaw worked soundlessly for a moment as he remembered coming upon the dismembered bodies of those who had resisted the foul Predacon. "The Maximal Council received the reports of the massacre two days after he had landed, and they sent a unit to investigate."

_"__Hey, Cub! Grab that scanner and get over here!" The older warrior glared at the rookie intimidatingly. "Right! Sorry!" the young warrior grinned easily and hurried to join the rest of his patrol. Leatherhide gave him a sour look and moved down the line. "Alright you lot, our mission is surveillance only at this point. We already know Galvatron is somewhere on the planet, our job is to find out where and transmit his coordinates to the rest of the unit." The young soldiers were brimming with excitement. For most of them, this was their first time out in the field, and each one was secretly hoping for a chance to test his mettle on the battlefield. The bad-tempered crocodile split them into two teams. When he came to the youngling with the scanner, he crossed his arms. "Lio Cub, you and your ilk are with me." The young lion winced. Grand. Stuck with the one commander who hated kids more than anyone else!_

_From the second team, Apache shot him a sympathetic glance before heading for the ridge. Leatherhide's group moved quietly down into the jungle, scanning for spark signatures. Suddenly, the air turned cold. Lio's ears twitched. "Something's wrong!" the young lion hissed. The giraffe beside him tried to tuck his neck down as low as possible. "Yeah, I can feel it too." Without warning, the sky overhead grew black, and thunder rolled in the distance. "It's just a thunderstorm!" Leatherhide snapped, "Grow a backstrut, ya sparklings!" Dive huddled closer to Longrack and Lio. "I don't think this is just a thunderstorm!" he whispered to them. Lio frowned at the frog. "Me neither." The thunder rumbled closer, and for a moment the Maximals could have sworn that they heard cruel laughter. Suddenly, their internal comms all buzzed at once._

_Leatherhide's long snout twisted in displeasure. "Team 2 is under attack!" he snarled, "We're going to back them up!" They cleared the forest with rapidity and soon came upon a scene that would haunt the dreams of the survivors for many years. Nearly blending in with the bruised sky, a vast figure strode down the mountainside, crushing trees beneath his pedes. In one hand, he held a massive magma blade that provided the only light on the slaughter taking place. The Maximals were no match for him, and most fled before him, screaming. Dive quaked next to Lio. "Oh my Allspark!" he whimpered, "Is that Unicron? Mech, I really wish I'd paid more attention in the Sages classes!" Leatherhide pushed past them and transformed into robot mode. "Weapons at the ready!" he shouted, then, raising his mace, he charged into the fray. _

_Lio Cub came to a very swift, very important conclusion: being higher in rank did not necessarily make one wiser. He transformed and held up a sheet of rock to shield himself and his teammates when Galvatron idly threw half of their commanding officer at them. "Is this the best you can do?" the mighty dragon yawned theatrically. "You begin to bore me, Maximals!" Lio clenched his fists and growled. "No! Don't!" Longrack tried to hold the Cub-rank soldier back, but Lio shook his hand off. "We can't just stand here and do nothing! Our friends are going to die!" the young lion drew his sword and darted out from the trees. "Galvatron!" he shouted. The titanic Predacon turned slowly to face him, and his nerve nearly failed him. He hadn't really thought beyond this point. Galvatron raised an eyebrow at the small figure. "Yes?" he asked mockingly._

_Apache broke from his group and ran to stand at his friend's side. "I don't know what you're doing, Lio," he said, "But as we're all about to die anyway, I think I'd rather die following you than running." The Cub tossed him a feral grin and Apache began firing at Galvatron's optics. None of the shots actually did any damage, of course, but it gave Lio time to think. He looked down and saw beneath the giant's pede the broken frame of one of the other Cubs, Botanica. His optics diffused into blue and all he could see was the energon coating the field. "Lio!" Apache stared at the light beginning to pour from the lion's body. Galvatron bent down in interest. It proved to be a costly mistake. With a long, inarticulate scream, Lio drew back his fist and a ball of energy gathered around it. "ENOUGH!" he drove his fist forward into the Predacon's chest, knocking the dragon back in the ensuing shock wave. _

_Galvatron skidded several yards, completely clearing the trees as he hit them. He landed, winded and unable to move, and stared in disbelief at the ragged wound across his spark chamber. Longrack and Dive hurried to support Lio, who had begun to collapse. "How did you do that?!" Apache marveled. "I...I didn't know I could," the lion replied. As the surviving Maximals activated stasis cuffs on Galvatron's arms and legs, a smile tugged at his faceplate. "At last," he was heard to mutter, "A worthy opponent!"_

Jack was so entranced by the story that he hardly realized that they had stopped walking, and were back in the main chamber again. "_You_ gave him that scar?" he breathed in awe, "Were you scared?" Lio Convoy nodded. "Absolutely terrified." Jack smiled. "I kind of thought so—not that I think you're scared of him!" he quickly backpedaled. The lion's huge muzzle pushed at him playfully. "I know what you meant, young one. Anyone who faces Galvatron without a shred of fear does not know their own peril." The boy scoffed. "Yeah. He's a _lot_ scarier than Megatron—something I never thought I'd say." Warm golden optics watched him with curiosity. "I keep forgetting that you do not belong to this world, Jackson." There seemed to be a trace of sadness in the statement. "The very idea of a human—let alone a human child—coming face to face with the Old Tyrant of the legends staggers the imagination."

Jack scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, that first time was an accident. I mean, I didn't _know_ he was trapped in the same mine we were!" Lio Convoy responded with a low chuckle that left Jack's bones rattling. Suddenly, Apache sidled over and snatched Jack. "Pardon me, Convoy! I need to borrow the lad for a moment!" Ignoring Jack's protests and Lio's irritated rumble, the medic hustled over to his workbench. What appeared to be either a backpack or a giant turtle shell lay on the table. "Here, try that on," Apache ordered. Jack sent Lio Convoy a pleading look, but the lion only shrugged. When Apache was in an inventing mood, there was little that could be done to stop him. Jack sighed and shrugged on the shell. "Hmm...too large, a little too large I'd say." The medic jotted quickly typed up his finding into the computer. "Right, thank you Jack. That's all I need for now!" He gently deposited the boy to the floor just as Break's panicked voice echoed over the intercoms. "_Hey! Maximal Base, this is Break. We've got a situation!_"


	8. Chapter 8

**Welcome back, everyone! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it is very much appreciated!**

**Now, I believe we'd left off last time with Break, Stampy, and Raf calling in with a bit of a predicament. I suppose we'd better drop in and see what the trouble is, eh?**

* * *

Rafael Esquivel had come to a very important conclusion: he officially hated bees. He huddled—wet, shivering, and _highly_ irritated—under the rocky ledge of his diving spot while Break and Stampy fired at their attackers. The blue and white Maximal darted up the rock and sprang into the air, knocking Terrorsaur to the water below. The Predacon might have been a formidable foe when flying, but on the ground, Break had the advantage. The penguin-bot landed in a crouch and kicked out with one pede, sweeping Terrorsaur's legs out from under him just as he was standing up. Spluttering, the dinosaur-mech went down again, and Break brought both his fists down like a club over his opponent's helm. Terrorsaur caught the young Maximal's wrists just before the blow landed and flung him off into the boulder where Raf was hiding. Above, Waspinator and Buzz Saw fired their lasers relentlessly at Stampy, who only barely dodged each shot.

Just as the young trio began to think that they were done for, a Ground Bridge snapped into existence at the edge of the lake, and with a screech to rival a banshee, Airazor tore out of it and slammed into Buzz Saw. The yellow wasp hummed angrily and twisted to the side to avoid the gouging beak and raking talons. With a well-placed shot, Waspinator knocked the Maximal avian loose, sending her back several feet. Below them, Lio Convoy joined the fray with a no-nonsense look. He grabbed the squawking Terrorsaur by the throat and flung him to the shore with a crash. Break opened fire on Waspinator the moment he no longer had to worry about Terrorsaur, and the insect dove quickly to land in front of Break and Raf. "Wazzzzpinator, Terrorizzzze!" The big green mech's fist connected with Break's faceplate with a solid _thunk_, dropping him like a pile of rocks. "Break!" Stampy charged over and tackled Waspinator from behind, jamming the blades on his forearms into the Predacon's unprotected back.

The wounded mech let out a mighty shriek and clawed at the Maximal youngling as Raf swam out to his penguin friend. "Break! Get up before Stampy falls off!" he shouted. In the air, the femme had recovered and transformed, blasting away at Buzz Saw. "Terrorsaur to Predacon base!" the downed Predacon hissed into his comm, "We need back-up!" Lio Convoy knelt on Terrorsaur's chestplate and growled, "I think you'll find that calling for help is useless. We've jammed your communications." Seemingly out of nowhere, something pierced the powerful Maximal's hand and he grunted painfully. It was a long, thin blade that ended in a jet-black feather. "Predacons, to me!" Starscream shouted, swooping low to land on the other side of the lake. Dramatically, he pointed at Lio. "Four against three isn't quite fair, Maximal! What say we level the playing field?" Buzz Saw dropped to land next to Starscream, and Waspinator threw Stampy off with one last heave so that he could join his fellow Predacons.

"Unhand our comrade!" the treacherous mech snarled with a grandiose gesture. With his other hand, while the Maximals were distracted, Starscream let three more darts fly. Each one struck Convoy in the chestplate and shoulder, catching him off guard. Terrorsaur took the opportunity to scramble out of the lion's grip. The ungainly creature waddled to his teammates, then turned to glare menacingly at the Maximals. Airazor, Lio Convoy, Break and Stampy each brought blasters and plasma cannons to bear on the collected enemy as they slowly moved to strategic points in the tree-line. "Hiding, cowards?" Starscream shot forward, flinging his missiles with deadly accuracy. One nearly caught Raf's shoulder, as the little boy ducked just in time. One hit Airazor's wing, sending her spiraling to the earth below. A third found its mark in Break's cannon, and the penguin shut down the weapon with a yelp, hoping to avoid a system overload.

Swiftly, Stampy darted left, avoiding the projectiles. Starscream wasn't the only one with speed on the battlefield! The young warrior fired six times in rapid succession, destroying three darts in midair. Enraged, the feathered Predacon opted for hand-to-hand combat. Bent nearly double, he shot forward and winded Stampy with a vicious blow to the midsection. Before the young Maximal could recuperate, Starscream rained down blows and darts combined. "Dodge _these_, Maximal scum!" he snarled. Caught at a disadvantage, Stampy curled up tightly to protect his helm and spark from the attack. "Enough!" a mighty roar shook the ground. In awe, Rafael watched as Lio Convoy's fists began to glow. The Convoy's faceplate darkened as he sprinted towards the Predacons. Starscream winked at his comrades and turned to face the angry Maximal with far too much confidence.

_Shunk_. Stampy took the opportunity to ram one of Starscream's own darts deep into his pede. As the Predacon howled, Lio sprang forward to deliver a fiery blow. Starscream went down in a feathery heap, to the utter panic of the other three miscreants. Buzz Saw and Waspinator dove forward, heedless of Airazor and Break's continued barrage of fire, and retrieved their "rescuer". "Yaakraww! You'll pay for this, Maximals!" Terrorsaur squawked harshly. They took to the sky, barely dodging the Maximals' parting shots. "Cowards!" Break shook his fist at the fleeing Predacons and spat in disgust. Then he remembered his friends. "Raf? Stampy? Are you guys okay?" Stampy slowly uncurled himself, wincing. "I'm okay." He sounded a little unsure of himself. Lio knelt next to the young warrior with a sympathetic look. "Let me see." Quickly, he assessed the damage done to Stampy's frame and helped him into a sitting position. "It is not as grave as it looks," he reassured the youngling, "Apache will have you on your feet in no time at all."

Airazor reached down and plucked Raf from the hiding place he had ultimately chosen. "Look at you! Not a scratch. Not bad for a human sparkling!" The still slightly-damp human shrugged impassively. "I've seen worse. As long as these guys don't mess around with Dark Energon, I think I'll survive." Despite his protestations, Airazor insisted on carrying the boy the rest of the way home. As the Bridge closed behind them, Apache only barely glanced up from his work. "Busy! Busy!" he blustered, "Come back later!" A younger voice piped up from the worktable. "No! Don't go!" It was joined by an equally frantic second. "We're absolutely going to die of boredom!" Jack and Miko pulled the most dismal grimaces as the medic forced them to stand perfectly still so that he could make a series of unusual measurements and calculations. "It's only been forty minutes, what's all the fuss about?" Airazor glanced over Apache's shoulder.

He appeared to be much closer to completing his earlier project. The mandrill cast a jaundiced optic over the shivering, wet, Rafael and harrumphed. "Y'see, this is _exactly _why I'm making these!" he declaimed to no one in particular. "If our little friends are to be able to survive in the wild on their own, we must equip them." Miko rolled her eyes. "Yeesh, doc. Ya make us sound like a National Geographic special!" Beside her, Jack hid a smirk as the disgruntled medic pushed a piece of gear towards him. It appeared to be a backpack made of a lightweight metal or mesh. The Maximal's wolf head symbol was boldly displayed on the flat surface, and the slim pack fit closely to the human's back. "Um...it's...nice," Jack said slowly, "But what is it _for_?" Apache's optics twinkled, and he rubbed his hands together gleefully. "I'm so glad you asked, dear boy!" Break groaned theatrically. "Aw no! Don't encourage him!" Lio ignored them both and, nodding once in greeting to the other two humans, quietly padded out of the room.

Airazor sighed, transformed, and flapped up to a tree branch so as to listen more comfortably. Break helped Stampy to a medical berth, and the two sat miserably while the energetic inventor extolled the virtues of his tinkering. "I have taken the liberty of designing survival packs for the humans! Each one will have a communications uplink to the base, signal flares, tracking devices—you know, things humans can't summon out of their bodies like we can." Miko tiptoed to look into the satchel that now sat snugly on her companion's back. "I don't see any of that stuff! Is that still beta testing or something?" Apache shook his helm. "No, it's already in there." Jack craned his neck, trying to see. "Where?" The mandrill shrugged. "It's bigger on the inside." On the med berth with Stampy and Break, Raf abruptly burst out laughing, which he quickly disguised as a cough. This caught Apache's attention. "What's all this?!" he cried, noticing their condition for the first time. "Here it comes!" Stampy whispered to Break. The penguin nodded glumly.

Apache stormed over and glared down at them. "And _how_, pray tell, did _this_ happen? It wouldn't be because you weren't being mindful ofyour _surroundings _again, would it?" The younglings scowled back at him. "Ambushes can happen to anyone, Apache!" Stampy argued, "Doesn't mean we can't go out and have a little fun every now and then!" Scolding and arguing by turns, they managed to straighten out Stampy's injuries between the three of them. Jack shrugged off the high tech equipment on the worktable and nudged Miko with his elbow. "Looks like they'll be there awhile. You grab Raf, I'll start up the Bridge." The girl sighed dramatically and, taking a few steps backwards, leaped an impressive distance from the table to the berth. "It's almost dinnertime, Raf. Time for respectable folks to hit the road." Raf shoved her playfully. "Since when are you respectable folks?" Miko helped the younger teen down from the bench with an air of mock affront. "Wreckers aren't respectable folks! Wreckers wreak requiems on recreant wretches that rankle respectable relatives!" She winked. "Try saying _that_ three times fast!"

Airazor tilted her head from her perch. "You're leaving already?" She clacked her beak in dissatisfaction. "Mikoooo!" she almost sounded whiny. "We never got to dye my feathers!" Jack's eyes widened at the statement, and he whipped his head around to stare at both the femme and the girl. "Girl stuff, Jack," Miko deadpanned, "Don't worry about it." The boy shook his head, hesitant to delve into the mystery of women at his age. Back to Jasper they went, Bridging so as to avoid any predators. The summer heat quickly dried Raf's hair, leaving it a frizzy mess as he pulled a tee shirt on and threw his towel over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow," he waved to the older teens before ambling off towards his own home. _Flip flop. Flip flop. Flip-kerplop._ "Oh boy," Jack sighed, "Those are his older brother's sandals, aren't they?" Miko tried not to giggle as the smaller boy picked himself up, shook off the dust, and continued. "Yep. Hazards of being the youngest."

* * *

Jack slipped through the door and stopped briefly to scratch Ray behind the ears. "I was out with the Maximals again. Don't tell Mom," he whispered. The dog stared up at him adoringly, seeming to say with his eyes, _Don't worry, Boss. Your secret's safe with me! I hope it's bacon._ Jack grinned. "I have late shift at K.O. Burger tonight, Ray. When I come home, I'll bring you bacon. But you can't tell the rabbits." He wasn't sure when he had started talking to the German Shepherd, but it was nice to confide in someone who could be relied upon not to tell anyone else. No sooner had he uttered the magical pork-related word then Ray practically began vibrating with excitement. "No no! Bacon _later_! Work _now!" _Jack laughed, ruffling the dog's fur. Ray looked very disappointed. Suddenly, Jack realized he could hear his mother talking to someone on the phone. He pointedly avoided listening in—he remembered all too well the one time Optimus had caught him and Miko eavesdropping on Ratchet and his mother that one time... Still, June's voice began to rise in tone and intensity, making it hard to ignore.

"You're who? With what now? Well why would you need a veterinarian? Uh huh. No. No I haven't. What the- Why would I know something like that?! No! There are no such things, sir. What? You know _who_? No. I said _no!_ Goodbye!" The receiver slammed down with a click, and June appeared around the corner. "Ugh! Some people!" she grumbled. Jack raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. His mother smiled, but it seemed hurried. "You work until ten tonight, right?" she asked, reaching for the leash hanging on the wall. Jack nodded. "If it's alright with you, Mom, can I borrow the car?" he quickly explained what had taken place at Mr. Whitefeather's ranch earlier that day. June's eyebrows nearly touched her hairline. "A _jaguar_?! I'll call the neighbors and tell them to lock up their pets. And probably their kids too. You take the car, sweetheart." She put the leash back on the wall. "And I will _not_ go walking the dog at sunset. Sorry, Ray, you'll have to go in the backyard." Ray panted and slapped his tail against the floor. _Nevermind, Boss Lady. Let's play catch, eh? I like catch almost as much as I like bacon!_

Jack chuckled. "Look at that face! I think he wants to play fetch, Mom." Ray crouched happily, gazing up at his owners. June shook her head with a smile. "You and animals, honey. Sometimes I swear you can talk to them." The boy inclined his head with a blush, then took the car keys from the basket in the front hall and slipped out with a cheerful farewell. It felt strange to be behind the wheel of a car, but Jack made do. "Arcee, I miss you," he sighed as he backed the sedan out of the driveway.

* * *

Raf thought he'd made it back without anyone noticing at first. As usual, the tv was on fairly high volume in the living room, and he could hear Juan and Beto arguing over whether to watch soccer or America's Funniest Home Videos. Raf caught a glimpse of the back of his mother's head over the top of the office chair in the den, and guessed she was working on the computer. In near silence he slipped past them and darted down the hallway to his room. He shut the door behind him with a sigh of relief. "Where've _you _been?" a voice piped. Raf yelped and dropped his bag on his foot, prompting another yelp. Pilar cackled and flopped across his bed. The thirteen (and a very proud half) year old girl kicked her fuzzy blue socks in the air and put her hands behind her head. "Come on, spill! You were gone all _day_, hermanito. It was so _boring_ around here after piano lessons, so you better have a really good reason for leaving me to my insanity!"

Raf crossed his arms and scowled. "Pilar! What are you doing in my room?!" He stomped over and pushed his sister off the bed, sending her sprawling to the floor. "Go away!" Pilar pouted from the carpet. "Nooooo! Mama's working, so I can't use her computer. Papa's napping, so I can't do anything _loud_, Juan and Beto are monopolizing the tv, and my room has been abducted by drama!" By "drama", Raf assumed Pilar was referring to their older sister, who was a year older than Jack. "So read a book or something and ignore the phone-gossip," Raf suggested. Pilar brightened slightly at the suggestion, casting a covetous eye at her little brother's Harry Potter books, then deflated. "I would, but it's not phone gossip. She wants to talk to _me_!" The girl wrinkled her nose and climbed up to sit beside her brother, kicking her feet. "Weird girly-girl stuff?" Raf asked gingerly, hoping desperately that Pilar wouldn't start telling him whatever they were talking about. Thankfully, she did not. "Not like make-up or hair tips this time," she groaned, "Alicia won't shut up about that guy she flirts with at school!"

Raf paled. "Not the Nakadai guy?" Pilar punched him lightly on the shoulder. "So you _do _pay attention to stuff outside of studies!" The little boy scowled. "That guy's un lunatico, Pilar. He better not pull Alicia into his stupid street racing, or I'm going to kick his butt." His sister collapsed into giggles. "_You_?! _You're_ going to kick Shirako Nakadai's butt? What're you going to do? Trigonometry him to death?" Her laughter was abruptly cut off with a pillow to the face. "Oh, it's _on_!" she whooped, seizing another pillow. Raf pretended to cower. "You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would you?" The moment she hesitated, he launched his attack. "Sneaky! Eso no es justo!" Pilar quickly succumbed to his brilliant—if slightly underhanded—ploy. Never let it be said that Rafael Esquivel had learned nothing from Decepticons.

* * *

Miko sat on the front porch swing with her sketch book and colored pencils. Dinner was over and the sun was setting. Shirako had missed most of the meal. Again. _What kind of bizarro world is this where __**I'm **__the good kid?! _Miko wondered humorously as she added light green highlights to the olive colored shape on the page. "Ne, Miko-chan!" Shirako stepped out the door, trying to act smooth. "Oy omae, I'm busy!" Miko groused goodnaturedly. The older boy wandered over to the swing and sat down, sending it creaking back and forth with a rusty shriek. Both teenagers winced. "Dad has really got to do something about this thing," Shirako remarked, "It sounds like someone's killing a rat." They swung in (relative) silence for a moment or two, and Miko laid aside her artwork, unwilling to let her brother see the portrait of Bulkhead she had been making. "So..." the awkward conversation starter hung in the air for a moment. "How are things with you and Alicia?" Miko asked, studiously examining a speck of paint peeling from the armrest. It almost looked like a giraffe, if you turned your head to the side and squinted.

"Oh, fine. I'm going to ask her for her number tomorrow," the young man leaned back with an alarming squeak and stared at the emerging stars. "How are things with you and Jack?" he returned the question. Miko sighed, but there wasn't as much irritation behind it as usual. "I keep telling you, we're just _friends_. Seriously." Beside her, Shirako nodded. "Yeah, you _do_ keep telling me. Doesn't mean I believe you, though. You look all nervous every time I ask you where you're going, y'know." The girl pulled her feet up onto the bench. "Hey, come on, niisan. I don't bother you about the races, do I? Let a girl keep some secrets!" "Nani? What secrets?" Shirako narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Secrets about the Darby kid? He's not good enough for you!" Miko's face flushed and her palm found its way to its now-familiar spot: her forehead. "Oh my gosh, Shirako! Will you stop harping on this?!" The boy shrugged. "I'm just sayin' Miko. Where do you even _go_ all the time?"

Miko froze, echoing the classic look of a deer caught in the headlights. In her own dimension, no one had ever really cared enough to ask that question. How was she supposed to answer a brother? She cast about for an answer that wouldn't be a _complete_ lie, and, spotting a raccoon, settled for a diversion. "Hey, what was that thing that just jumped on top of your car?" she asked innocently, "Y'think it'll scratch the paint?" Shirako gasped and launched himself out of the swing, waving his arms frantically at the little animal. The moment the bench had stopped moving, Miko gathered her art supplies and slipped inside, dodging the question.

* * *

Starscream's brilliant idea had gone off without a hitch.

Except for the part where that was a bald-faced lie.

Galvatron paced the floor, clearly _livid_. "I don't know what's worse!" he growled, "That you initiated an attack on the Maximals without my permission, or that you _failed_." The Predacons whimpered and ducked the wide wings as they passed overhead. "We could have done it, Chief!" Buzz Saw stammered, "It was Waspinator who made a mess of the plan!" With a snarl, Galvatron seized the unlucky mech by the throat and pulled him close to his faceplate. "The _plan_." he hissed. "If you had half a processor between the three of you, you'd have known that it wasn't much of a plan to begin with! Now look at yourselves. Go on, look!" He flung Buzz Saw to the ground. "Terrorsaur, chestplates severely dented. Buzz Saw: crumpled wings. Waspinator: two foot-long _gashes_ in his back that are _leaking energon all over my chambers_! And _you_..." he turned to fix his baleful optics on Starscream.

Instinctively, the mech's feathers flattened themselves to his chassis in an attempt to present a smaller target. "I-I-I-I I was merely trying to _rescue _my brave—but foolhardy—companions!" he squeaked, "We shall surely succeed next time, my liege! Blood for blood!" He squawked in pain and distress as massive talons closed over his faceplate, lifting him from the deck. "Blood for blood, Starscream? No one was killed! You can't invoke blood for blood because there were no casualties!" he leaned forward and added, "_Unfortunately_," in a low whisper. He loosened his grip and let the smaller warrior fall with a terrific crash. With a disgusted noise, Galvatron turned his back on the soldiers. "Get out of my sight!" There was certainly no need to tell them twice. Buzz Saw, Waspinator, and Terrorsaur gulped and scurried out of the darkened chamber as fast as their pedes could carry them. Starscream's plumage puffed slightly in relief as he began to slink out after them. "Not you." the harsh basso ordered, "You stay."

Starscream trembled and hunched his shoulders. Galvatron's temper had all but disappeared. "You put up a convincing front, my deceitful friend, but you are not the only one who can act." A fanged smile flashed in the gloom. Galvatron held out his hand and a tiny from skittered out from under one of his wings, creeping down his arm to stand in his palm. It was the golden Scraplet. Starscream could not suppress a shudder. "My liege, is it wise to keep such a dangerous creature unrestrained?" he attempted. Dark servos swept over the Scraplet's helm affectionately. "I trust it more than I trust you, Starscream." He held the savage creature out towards the terrified Predacon. "Have you met Muninn? Muninn is a very clever predator. Did you know he can mimic the calls of overwhelmingly stupid creatures? No? Observe." The saw-like teeth parted, and out of the Scraplet's throat came a recording of Starscream's own voice. _"Fools! That ought to keep them out of my feathers for a while. Now, "master", for you!"_

There was little else to be said. Starscream's feathers quivered with outrage. In a haze, he pulled a blaster on the tiny creature. "Mesh-eating parasite! Memory, huh? I'll make _you _a memory!" The Scraplet growled, revving its teeth back and forth. Starscream jumped back with a shriek. "You truly have a death wish, do you not?" Galvatron purred, smirking at the would-be conspirator. "Perhaps your over-ambitious sire and carrier can be blamed for giving you your designation. I tend to think, mind you, that you're just stupid, but I am inclined to be charitable today." He stood, towering over the other Predacon, and his tone turned ugly. "That I yet suffer from Lio Convoy's blow is the one and only reason you yet live. One day, I shall be fully healed, and able to leave this chamber. If you should cross me again, _especially_ when I have recovered, you will wish that you had perished today. That is a promise." He dismissed Starscream with a disdainful wave of his claw and set Muninn on the floor. "Follow the fool. He's likely to walk straight out of an airlock in a bid for escape."

* * *

When Jack's shift ended, there was a text message waiting on his phone. _Meet at base, _it said, _Lio wants us._ How odd. Jack wondered if they were supposed to have stayed until Lio could debrief everyone on whatever happened at Lake Priscilla. _Wait until Mom's asleep_. He texted back, _Like the first time we found the base_. Miko sent him a rather undignified emoticon of a face sticking its tongue out, which he ignored. He slipped into the car and drove the short distance to his home. Ray was waiting at the door. "Hey you," Jack smiled tiredly. The dog tilted his head and nosed at Jack's hand. "No, I didn't forget. Look, just for you." Jack took a handful of bacon from the greasy paper bag. "Shh! Don't tell anyone!" he joked. The wolf-like canine licked his face in appreciation. "Okay, okay! Easy, boy." Jack pushed him away. "Look after Mom while I'm gone, okay? She's your top priority." Ray's tail thumped against the baseboards. _You can count on me, Boss! Nobody's getting past Ray! Unless they have bacon, in which case, they're obviously friendly, right? _Roughly, Jack patted the dog's side. "All right, ya joker. Get out of here."

He waited in his room until he heard his mother's door close and her cd player click on. The Johnny Cash album would loop twice before stopping, but she was always asleep before the fifth track on the first round. The boy crouched by his door, listening. Ghost Riders. Ring of Fire. Jackson. Orange Blossom Special. Ah! The fifth track: Folsom Prison Blues. Jack shook his head. He had no idea how June slept through that, but he was thankful for it. He hit _send _on his cell phone, sending a text to Raf. _Ready to Bridge. _He slipped out the window and waited in the back yard. In the darkness, he thought he heard an unfamiliar animal snarl, and all the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He was relieved when the comforting green glow of the Ground Bridge lit the yard, and did not hesitate as he dove through.

* * *

Galvatron returned to his throne after having ensured that Starscream had not tried to flee the ship. Sitting on the mirrored black surface was a solitary feather. The Emperor of Destruction narrowed his optics. "He is here." he murmured. Almost delicately, he removed the quill and settled himself rigidly in the Dark Energon infused stone. A thought flashed to his processor from Muninn and he held the feather out to the right in a leisurely manner. "Yours, I believe." He did not turn his helm as a cultured voice spoke from the blackness. "Keep it. It's a calling card, if you will." Galvatron let the feather go, watching it float effortlessly to the ground. "You had better be worth your pay," he growled.


End file.
